Unknown Apple products, Nintendo's photocopier, a TV typewriter, surveillance cameras, and the 20 best Spectrum games. All that, and before the Copyright Law takes effect, in this week's recommended links (which may have their days numbered!).
10 products you didn't know carried the bitten apple: "As every September, Apple reveals its new line of products for the coming year. The most devout followers of the tech giant are dying to know the latest version of the iPhone, what the new Mac will bring, or the versatility of the latest iPad. However, throughout its history there weren't only smartphones and computers with the bitten apple logo... There were also video game consoles, printers, and even a clothing line. The folks in Cupertino have needed many experiments and strange products to get where they are today. Beyond the beloved iPods, we review the least known and most striking items in Apple's trajectory."
Copilas, the Nintendo photocopier of 1971: "Copilas was a copier manufactured from 1971 to 1979 that had various variants with different hardware, each of which improved on the previous unit. Initially, it enjoyed considerable success in Japan due to its low price: it cost 9,800 yen of the time; a bargain, really."
The TV typewriter: "The TV Typewriter, an invention that in 1973 barely made sense... What was the use of writing something on a screen that had no paper output? Well, initially, for nothing. But that design was a success, and there was great demand among readers and electronics enthusiasts. Why? Because you have to fit the invention into the era in which it was conceived."
Jens Olsen's clock: "Jens Olsen was born in Ribe on July 27, 1872. As a child he already showed talent as a watchmaker and later became an excellent instrument maker. At 25 he traveled to Strasbourg, where one of the technical wonders of the time, the astronomical clock of the cathedral, was located. This machine fascinated him; he carefully studied its operation and on numerous visits took notes on its complex functions."
A medieval board game found in the secret chamber of a castle in Russia: "The pattern, a kind of grid, was engraved on the brick before placing it in an oven. The game is well known and dates from the Roman Empire. It is known by various names, including 'mill' and 'cowboy checkers', and bears a strong resemblance to Nine Men's Morris, better known in Spanish as the game of the mill."
Hello, I'm calling because I'm watching your restaurant live on the Internet and you're not aware of it: "Imagine for a moment that one day you walk into a restaurant where you've planned a secret meeting. Perhaps with the HR manager of a competing company, or with someone your partner wouldn't be happy about you contacting. Imagine trying to take precautions not to be discovered. Imagine that without knowing it you're appearing on the Internet, on a website that broadcasts live what happens in the place you're in."
500,000 ancient papyri are preserved in the world, and a good part of them are accessible over the Internet: "The goal of APIS is to publish on the Internet all the papyri that exist today to facilitate the work of academics and the public, providing, in addition to their scanned image, a description. In the US there are 6 institutions involved: Duke, Berkeley, Michigan, Columbia, Yale, and Princeton. Together they hold most of the papyri in that country, about 45,000, an important number but one that leaves the rest pending—remember, around half a million."
This is what happens in the days after an elephant dies: "An African elephant can weigh up to seven tons and live up to 70 years. When one of these giants dies, they mourn. But the death of an elephant also implies the survival of other animals, such as some threatened or endangered species. A horde of hungry animals rushes at full speed to reduce its carcass to bones, consuming millions of calories in a few days."
Viking ship, the drakkar and the snekkar: "Viking ships sailed the seas first to fish, then to trade, and finally to plunder. The scarcity of resources, poor crop yields, and overpopulation are the causes historians speculate to explain the beginning of Viking raids. In some cases, the Vikings established colonies on the plundered lands, while in others they simply returned home. Thanks to advanced ship design and new navigation techniques, the Vikings went from fishing herring and cod to dominating the waters. Canoes and skin boats gave way to wooden ships never seen before."
After a long controversy, the terms 'Master' and 'Slave' will no longer be used in Python: "For quite a few years the terms 'Master' and 'Slave' have been widely used in the software and electronics world to refer to a component that controls others and another that is controlled by a superior one, respectively. But many people are not comfortable with these terms because they can be associated with slavery." This is getting out of haaaands.
The 20 best Spectrum games: "The popularity of Spectrum grew like foam at a relentless pace due, in large part, to the fact that the format used was the same old cassette tapes. This meant two things: that loading times could become eternal (up to 4 minutes) and that copying games, besides being common, was simple as pie... Or pressing Stop." More on the ZX Spectrum.
The best of the worst of Wikipedia: "Wikipedia is a fascinating artifact, a collaborative and public encyclopedia founded by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger that has been able to send all door-to-door encyclopedia salesmen packing. An information ecosystem that has never been ashamed to give the same importance to classical culture as to popular culture: it's not unusual to find a more overwhelming amount of data about a Star Trek episode than about some ancient civilizations."
VIDEOS: Stone-skipping champion, genius cardboard costume, Toy Story 3 in real life, Hula hoop, impossible goal, Nutella desserts, the weather forecast like you've never seen it, don't throw garbage!, how to make a prison pizza, the girl who makes domino chains, chicken ruins fresh pavement, how to make a human skull with salt, underwater hockey, and a printed circuit injected with 100,000 volts.
GALLERIES: Sculptures from bicycle chains, funny cakes (like the computer-themed cakes), post-apocalyptic fashion, old colorized photos, vote for the best funny nature photo, Unique Sora's cosplay, the old Internet museum, animals with hairstyles, digital collages, horrible designs, cookie cutters, historical Apollo 7 photos, 3D graffiti, symmetrical cakes, the old science fiction puppets, the Animated Dump, and the Weekly Dump. Don't miss them!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/8VoCwno6UM0Thanks for stopping by, friend!
