The Zodiac Killer, musical wigs, and the amazing machines of Dr. Zander, in this edition of the week's recommended links. Want more? Of course you want more! Exploit traffickers, technology rotting your brain, and the long journey to Minecraft's Far Lands, among many other things.
The beginnings and expansion of humanity: A brief history of a long history: "Everything humanity is today owes itself to a few families of primitive men – so different from us but at the same time 100% human – who lived wonderful and terrifying journeys to survive in an incomprehensible world. These prehistoric examples will give us the proper perspective before we venture to imagine or think about any human aspect of recent history, the present, or the future..." Once upon a time, Man.
The Zodiac Killer: "That eagerness to show off led him to the most attractive aspect of this story, or at least the strangest and most curious. On August 1, 1969, the killer sent three coded messages to local newspapers in which he supposedly explained his motives for carrying out the crimes. The coded messages had around 50 strange symbols, some of which looked like zodiac signs, and that's where the nickname Zodiac Killer came from." There are still puzzles to solve, if you like.
Atlas Obscura, the website of strange places for those who have seen it all: "In a world where it seems everything has been explored and there is nothing new to find, we search for a different way of looking at it," they explain on their website before detailing some of those places that usually don't appear in standard tourist guides. Founded in 2009 by Joshua Foer, journalist and US memory champion, and Dylan Thuras, a lover of exploring abandoned buildings, Atlas Obscura is a collaborative project that feeds on reader contributions.
Argentine Superheroes (Created and Written by Foreigners): "Argentine comics were always more influenced by European than American ones, which I think broadly explains why there aren't many Argentine superheroes to begin with, and even fewer popular ones. Be that as it may, we are a country well known/visited enough that a couple of foreign writers decided to create Argentine superheroes and supervillains. The intention may have been good in each case, but the truth is that the results were never very good, and in this entire listed set there isn't a single decent or interesting character, probably the reason none has become even moderately popular."
Musical wigs: "The parties you organize could achieve the category of 'epic' (or maybe not) thanks to the Song Wig, a wig with neither natural nor artificial hair, but with a bunch of yellow cables with earphones at the ends. It was designed so you can share your music 'physically' with a bunch of people at once." My wig sounds like heavy metal.
The amazing machines of Dr. Zander: "Promises of losing weight and gaining wonderful abdominal muscles without lifting a finger are nothing new. However, unlike the scams seen on TV today, there was a Swedish physician, orthopedist, and engineer named Gustav Zander at the end of the 19th century who honestly obsessed over putting technology at the service of humanity. The amazing machines of Dr. ZanderThus he began a frantic intellectual quest to develop his mechanotherapy, far from modern mechanotherapy, the mechanotherapy of the late 19th and early 20th centuries contained within itself all the technological optimism that characterized the era." Genius!
Zerodium, the exploit trafficker who buys vulnerabilities at a premium: "Zerodium is a company dedicated to buying and selling exploits to hack devices to the highest bidder. Its clients include government agencies and large companies. There is an underground market for tools to hack anyone. The Deep Web is full of black markets where you can order targeted hacks against specific people or companies. There are places where exploits and computer discoveries of all kinds are shared. Until now that space was reserved only for crackers, as could not be otherwise. Now the tables might have turned. There could be external actors to this underworld wishing to benefit from it, becoming what we could define as corporate hack traffickers." The corner dealer can't get me hacks, but he brings the good stuff.
Why modern technology's multitasking is destroying your brain: "Our smartphones are like 'Swiss Army knives,' says Levitin, they contain all kinds of applications to navigate the online world but also offline, and we use them all the time. In fact, they occupy all our free time – although our work time also takes place using the mothership of smartphones: a laptop. We text while driving or walking down the street (there's an urgency to 'make use of' time), when we're waiting for something we check our email or Instagram feed; even when we're with friends, at any moment of boredom or simply automatically, 'we check what other friends are doing.' We are in a perpetual present of streams of data updating, connected in real time with everyone and especially with the people we love, but we are and we are not in the place where we are. Divided attention divides the psyche." This weekend column kills a few neurons, then.
Yes, the FBI Director also covers his webcam with tape: "Well, now the FBI director, James Comey, during a talk he gave about encryption and privacy showed his concern about this type of action through webcams. Something reasonable, especially considering that the Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI has already used software specifically designed to hack these types of devices and spy on its targets. He also dropped a hint referring to the recent confrontation with Apple over the unlocking of the iPhone of one of the perpetrators of the San Bernardino shooting, indicating that companies should make devices offer the greatest possible security, leaving the possibility that authorities can access certain information in important investigative cases." Covering the webcam is essential.
This amazing project lets you build a home recycling plant: "Tons and tons of plastic are collected all over the world every day to be recycled and used for all kinds of applications, but although we can already do our part, a group of entrepreneurs has gone further. The people behind Precious Plastic have been working for several years on an Open Source project that allows building a home plastic recycling plant. A series of machines that we can easily obtain will allow us to reuse the plastic we throw away, for example, as filament for 3D printers." Just because you can build it at home doesn't mean it's easy to build at home.
The long journey to Minecraft's Far Lands: "Five years later he keeps walking every day in the same direction and has traveled thousands of miles. In some places, animals and objects have a strange appearance - as if disconnected from the terrain - and the landscape vibrates as he passes. But he is still very far from the place he intended to reach. Kurt has tirelessly streamed each of his playthroughs through his YouTube channel (Far Lands or Bust) and is raising money for an NGO that improves the lives of children in hospitals (he has raised over $300,000!). Furthermore, he has tens of thousands of followers who enjoy watching his adventures on the journey to the Far Lands. Five years later he keeps walking every day in the same direction and has traveled thousands of miles. In some places, animals and objects have a strange appearance - as if disconnected from the terrain - and the landscape vibrates as he passes. But he is still very far from the place he intended to reach." There's something for everyone, huh.
The trickle-down effect fallacy: "Undoubtedly the following argument is one that neo-liberals use quite frequently. When we say that we need to raise taxes on the wealthiest population, we suddenly find ourselves with a flood of criticism. One of the most used arguments is the following: 'If we raise taxes on the rich, they will stop spending. Large companies will stop investing and therefore there will be less job creation. And as a consequence, it affects the working class.' This argument describes the so-called trickle-down effect, and you can rest easy, it's a fallacy." Don't open your umbrellas, it's not raining and it won't rain.
Videos
VIDEOS: Shoal of red crabs, an owl riding a toy horse, THAT IS NOT A FISH, they convince their sister it's the zombie apocalypse, how a fish decomposes, octopuses fighting like octopuses, Boss Bitch, if you can run faster than your fart, how the snake's rattle works, how to make panda-face candy, twins swap faces and you can't tell, super mind-blowing, paralyzed person plays Guitar Hero, street food vendor, a giant sinkhole opens in the middle of the road, catches spiders, a chameleon being born, new Super Mario Bros. record, tiger fight, girl in the snow is chased by a bear but doesn't notice (fake), the little bear that sneezes in stop motion, Ma’agalim, Player Two, A Small Escape, and Ninja Kittens (Extended version).
Galleries
GALLERIES: Beautiful butterfly-like capes, bonsai trees, the Pac Man suit, Snapchat filters on animals, dog stalking its owner, rescued dog dressed as a lion, rooftop gardens, Russian-style Transformers, forced perspectives, praying mantises, ET BBQ, the art of Andrew Lebedinsky, and the ugliest Belgian houses.
This week on NeoTeo
This week on NeoTeo: Endless great and fun content on NeoTeo, as the icing on the cake. The Microsoft bot that adds descriptions to your photos, the mattress that detects if your partner is cheating, a funeral urn to reincarnate as a tree, Intel Core i7 6950X with 10 cores, Udoo x86, how to survive a grenade explosion, the best programs for partitioning your hard drive, exploring Alpha Centauri, a flying board, Thomas Edison's test, your brain after taking LSD, a Linux for Windows users, integrated circuit simulator, drawing pinball, the lost arcade, mobile games, and online games of the week.
Thanks for reading this far and thank you for your visit. Hug!
