Issue 5
From pencils to weed tech with a dash of crypto craziness
Hey there, this is the craziest stuff we've seen over the last week.
So much crypto stuff that is difficult to resist 🤑 and a few articles that look at the neglected areas of CES. (weed and weird technology).
It has been a big week for Facebook, and we saw some cool things about their other approaches to meaningful connections. Plus a little look at their revenue (and how the quest for meaning will help their bottom line).
A lot of old-skool and pop culture stuff in this one: Stars Wars games and a pencil factory are here for the visuals.
Plus...robots. Always robots.
👔 Job of the week
Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories - The New York Times
With the pace of technological development, it is easy to forget the humble pencil. No other writing tool is quite as diverse (?). With slight hand movements you can change so much with the pencil. This photo essay goes into a pencil factory in some old skool cool.
nytimes.com
🥇 World of WordPress
How to build a WordPress site with the Gutenberg editor
If you're into WordPress then for sure you have heard about this editor. The villagers have been out with pitchforks and torches since it was released in June last year.
Personally, I like it. And I like articles that seek to help users acquaint themselves with it. All the shouting at trains is kind of annoying to watch.
codeinwp.com
What’s new in Gutenberg? (12th January)
Staying with Gutenberg. Check out all of these yuuge updates to the editor:
More polish for publish, API tweaks, better gallery options, bug fixes and accessibility improvements.
wordpress.org
👩💻 Misc Tech
Why Rust is the future of robotics – pollenrobotics – Medium
Interesting to hear of anything called rust being the future of something. But here we are.
Only 11 years old Rust is the language behind Firefox's brutally fast new browser. But it is going to be the language that brings the robots closer to use. Their motto: fast, reliable, productive - pick three
Read all about the language that brings robots closer to your door
medium.com
Facebook Knows How to Track You Using the Dust on Your Camera Lens
The ideas that run through the collective Facebook mind are shudder-worthy. The patent applications from this tech giant show us that Black Mirror has nothing on their machinations. They managed to find a way to recover not just locations of smartphones but whether two people are walking together or facing each other.
gizmodo.com
The challenge of showcasing weed tech at CES
Cannabusiness is big, legit, business nowadays. According to some research, the industry has seen nearly $1.3 billion in equity funding since 2014. This includes more than $600 million in 2017. There is a lot of innovation happening in the technology but on the ground, the laws still hamper the marketing at trade shows.
What's the workaround? Gather in a small room, and then head out for pancakes.
engadget.com
The Worst things CES had to offer consumers | Digg
Bad or weird technology is not something new. I mean, in 1959 someone combined honey and vinegar to make Honegar.
But, the synthesis of diverse fields with bucketloads of money is leading to some weird combinations. Digg was kind enough to collect the worst and weirdest in one article.
digg.com
50% of Women in STEM suffered from sexism at work.
The end of 2017 was notable for the vocalization of sexual harassment and misconduct suffered by women everywhere. I was freaked out by the number of #MeToo posts in my Facebook feed. Pew Social Trends lets us know that 50% of women in scientific, technological, engineering, and mathematical fields have suffered from sexism. If you believe in diversity and equality then you know this statistic is terrible.
pewsocialtrends.org
Digital Art: Permanent Redirect: digital art that moves to a new URL when someone views it
A digital art piece that moves a permanent redirect every time it is viewed. Linking to it is impossible. Eventually, it will be nearly impossible to view. The artist Donald Hanson calls it "an experiment in introducing artificial scarcity into digital work"
kottke.org
The Ultimate Oldschool PC Font Pack
Everyone loves the nostalgia of Stranger Things, right?
They will love this oldskool PC font pack. Essentially a tribute to ancient PCs (486, right?) and the bitmapped typography.
It is all about making sure the old PC gets the same love as the Atari, C64 and the like. A trip down memory lane and the excitement of VGA.
int10h.org
Pop culture goes too far when three guys eat a Wiggum inspired crayon sandwich
We have reached peak ridiculousness. Three guys make a grilled crayon sandwich and then eat the, non-toxic, concoction. Many questions come to mind...
Firstly, should you really try and replicate anything made by Ralph Wiggum? Secondly, if you are going to try and make something fictional from pop-culture, then make the sleep pods from Judge Dread.
youtube.com
Dogechain: much joke so valuable
Dogecoin is the cryptocurrency inspired by "doge". It was meant to be a joke and you really weren't meant to take it seriously.
In January 2017, the value of all Dogecoins was around $20 million, by the start of 2018?
arstechnica.com
Star Wars has a history of bad games. These are the weirdest.
Lovers of games and Star Wars have been unduly punished over the years. This is a great collection of the weirdest and most egregious assaults on licensing ever.
Some of these I don't even remember, like the Han Solo dancing competition. You have to check it out.
mashable.com
Breakdown of all of the tech giants billions
This is a pretty simple infographic showing the breakdown of all those big billions made by the tech giants; Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft.
Also includes, for fun, the breakdown of the revenue streams. The end of software is near.
visualcapitalist.com