Get Comfy

August 25, 2015

Hello internet friends!

What a lovely Monday it is!
It isn’t? Oh.
Onwards.

Remember Second Life? Of course you do. A mere ten years ago it was the future of everything. Of course with the new VR headsets, it might be the future of everything again, soon.
Until then, there are people who wander aimlessly through the abandoned worlds. “Get comfy,” indeed.

I read the occasional science-fiction novel, but I don’t follow the trades. So I can’t tell you Who Won Science Fiction’s Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters but Amy Wallace can. And oh boy, another story of stupidity with a pretty satisfying conclusion.

Talking about satisfaction: My wife found my email in the Ashley Madison database – it’s a bit about the Ashley Madison hack, but a lot about email addresses and namespace collusion.
Now guess how many emails I get to my dominik@gmail.com address?

If you are an airplane nerd – and I am sure, deep inside we all are, right? – here is a five hour documentary about the design and development process of the Boeing 777. And since that all happened in the early 90s, it is also pretty fun to watch it for the clothes, hair styles and the whole innocence in documentary making. They even have an almost ten minute long segment of Boeing engineers debating who gets to have a nice office and who needs to fly coach instead of business class.
Lovely.

Hm, I wonder if I can sign up for this in the amateur division?

Take a nap, once in a while.

Fargo, Gentrified

August 17, 2015

Hello internet friends,

I didn’t watch this documentary about the Kowloon Walled City, yet, but it has been highly recommended, so here you go. I’ll make sure to watch it later today.

Because we all like long and well-written articles, here is one about hacking, gentrified:

Thus the emergent tech industry’s definition of ‘hacking’ as quirky-but-edgy innovation by optimistic entrepreneurs with a love of getting things done. Nothing sinister about it: it’s just on-the-fly problem-solving for profit. This gentrified pitch is not just a cool personal narrative. It’s also a useful business construct, helping the tech industry to distinguish itself from the aggressive squares of Wall Street, competing for the same pool of new graduates.

I had altogether too much fun with Pablo. (A sentence I did not think I would ever write.)

And then I am really looking forward to the next season of Fargo.

Have a good week, everybody.

Dragons, Dogs and Robots

August 10, 2015

Hello internet friends,

I really like this bridge and would advocate for all bridges being shaped into fire-breathing dragons.
Given the headline – “world’s largest dragon-shaped steel bridge” – one wonders where all the smaller dragon-shaped steel bridges are. Maybe there is a whole subculture of bridge builders who are into dragons?

Dogs!

Important science: Why Do Children Abuse Robots? [PDF]
This might sound mocking, but I think it actually is important. After all… – and once they achieve sentience, they will know.

Do you know the history of ice cream? I didn’t.

Stay hydrated!

Mop.

August 3, 2015

Hello internet friends!

I had some dodgy red wine yesterday, walked around in the sun and my current reality is very different from the one I usually experience. There is this sudden hum and pushing myself through the air is a bit harder than usual, too.

Am I the only one who didn’t notice the dog on Marc Zuckerberg’s pregnancy announcement post? For quite a while I thought that this is quite a weirdly fluffy dress.

I ordered four things from Amazon this weekend. I had those build up over a few days, so I could order them all at the same time, so just one package will need to be sent out.
This morning I got four shipping notices – each item separately, shipped on different days with different couriers. This is all getting a bit silly.

Talking about silly – VidCon 2015. Did nobody tell people that making teen boys – who are the worst, I know, I was one – famous is a terrible idea?

I’ve never been to Reykjavik, but this map is very, very pretty.

Be safe.