Pages to read comics, fifty films to watch, a lot about Spectrum, armed robots and the rainbow bomb. A Christmas edition of the Recommended Links of the Week with everything you need to pass the time. What more could you want? Enjoy!
Pages to read or download free comics and other resources: "No excuses here. If you don't read comics, it's because you don't want to. On the internet there are millions of issues, I'm not exaggerating, that you can download and read for free, complete and absolutely legal. From classics to new releases, including all kinds of rare publications, fanzines and popular science books. If we added to this short list those blogs and websites that collect them and make them available for download in a less "legal" way, you could be sure that even with several lifetimes you wouldn't have time to read them all."
Thirty classic films to watch at least once in a lifetime: "This list doesn't intend to be a list of the best films in history, because there is a time limitation that leaves out many great films. It also doesn't intend to be a snob list, so fashionable lately, since all of them are quite well-known and, in a way, mainstream for their time. Neither is it a list of my favorite films, because probably tomorrow I would choose different ones and, besides, I'm leaving out others like 12 Angry Men, which I've already included in so many lists that I've decided to leave it out this time."
20 horror movies based on true stories: when reality is scarier than fiction: "Sometimes reality is scarier than fiction, and we can check it by reviewing some horror movies based on true events. Because in the real world, there are serial killers capable of anything, demonic possessions beyond skepticism, drug cartels fond of satanic rituals, 'forgotten' divers stalked by sharks... and unscrupulous scammers willing to hurt their own children to fake a paranormal phenomenon."
Are social networks a danger to mental health?: "91% of all young people between sixteen and twenty-four frequently use social networks. More than "use", we need a change of expression, of paradigm, to explain it: they "live" with social networks. Their interactions, their interpersonal relationships, lean heavily on these tools born of the Internet. Interaction with other human beings is an essential part of the health of human beings, who are eminently social primates. How do social networks affect our well-being?"
The most complete book ever written about the Spectrum: "Spectrumpedia analyzes the past, present and future of the Spectrum, reconstructing its history and the importance it had in guiding a whole generation of users toward the 'digital revolution', examining the new hardware and software created by the community of enthusiasts around the world and showing the perspectives opened by the contemporary systems derived from or compatible with the Spectrum. In addition, since it was originally conceived mainly for Italian readers, a complete chapter has been dedicated to the role played by the Spectrum in Italy."
When in 1987 they trolled us with a BASIC program for ZX Spectrum: "It was April 1987 when ZX Computing magazine, at the time the largest and most renowned British publication for Sinclair users, published within its pages a BASIC program for the ZX Spectrum microcomputer, in its 16K and 48K versions. The source code was signed by a certain Toni Baker —a regular publisher of similar articles in magazines of the time— and he called it 'Memory Expansion Program'. In just thirty lines of BASIC code, Toni claimed that this piece of software was capable of increasing the memory of Sinclair ZX Spectrum computers."
Roman dodecahedra: an archaeological enigma that remains unresolved: "On June 28, 1739, among ancient coins, a dodecahedron with a hole in each face was found in Aston, Hertfordshire, England. Almost three centuries later and after more than a hundred similar finds, from Hadrian's Wall to Arles, on the Mediterranean coast of France, and Brigetio in Pannonia, Hungary, it is still not known what it was used for. These are regular Gallo-Roman dodecahedra from the 2nd-4th centuries AD of various sizes and details. Most are between 4 and 10 centimeters in diameter between parallel faces and between 35 and 580 grams, with one exception exceeding 1 kg."
Boston Dynamics asks to stop arming robots. What's going on?: "In these circumstances, the police claimed they were forced to send a robot, Packbot, toward the criminal. The scene: the robot approaches, dragging an electric hum that drives its gears. The sniper is confused. Will it bring the demands he has negotiated with the police? The robot keeps approaching. A little closer. The criminal hesitates whether to shoot at it, just yells, nervous, at the police. He doesn't understand anything. The robot gets a little closer, and boom! Its C-4 explosive charge kills the sniper, Micah Johnson."
Human ancestors were able to sail the Aegean 450,000 years ago: "A new analysis suggests that archaic humans could have sailed to new lands 450,000 years ago, which would explain ancient artifacts on the Aegean islands predating Homo sapiens. According to a new analysis of the coastlines of the middle Chibanian era, there is no other way these ancient hominins could have arrived at what we now call the Aegean islands. And if it wasn't necessary to use land bridges for human migration, this could have implications for how our ancestors and modern humans spread across the world."
Where does cement come from?: "Cement is just one of the various materials we have used to erect our buildings. For example, Babylonians and Assyrians used pitch and sand to join burnt bricks or alabaster slabs, and in Egypt stone blocks were cemented with a mortar of sand and burnt gypsum that often contained some calcite. But cement itself, a mixture of calcined limestone and clay, then ground with a little gypsum, which hardens in the presence of water, is not what holds buildings up. For that, an aggregate must be added, which depending on its size is classified as gravel, fine gravel, or sand. That is called concrete."
HAARP and the rainbow bomb: how to end modern civilization in less than a second: "The result is simple: circuits simply fry instantly across the continent. This happens mainly to those connected to antennas (since an antenna captures as much electromagnetic energy from the air as it can) and to lines that act as antennas (for example, the electrical grid wires themselves). But it has also been documented many times in switched-off and disconnected circuits, because the pulse is intense enough to induce current inside them."
There is a reason why clock hands turn the way they do. They could perfectly do it the other way: "Why are clocks like this? Why do they have the '12' at the top and then the numbers go in those positions? And above all: why do clock hands turn clockwise —pardon the redundancy— and not the other way? The truth is there's a reason why our clock design follows those patterns. One that has a lot to do with our history, with lights, shadows, and above all, with geography."
Videos: On board the oldest railway in Peru (360 video), more thieves get what they deserve, Messi vs Mbappé, the legend of DOOM, Tom Cruise doing a risky stunt, Carol of Davy Jones - Pirates of the Caribbean Christmas (Piano Cover), Canada in 1907 in Color, social networks from 2003 to 2022, robots assembling a Christmas tree, three seconds from each episode of Star Trek: TNG, the meme guy, the most recognized songs of the last 100 years, popular songs since January 1980, testing a secret US weapon, a ball that bounces higher than it should, The Book of Leaves, rainbow with fire, song with water glasses and the brilliant shorts: PostHuman (animated), Crush (animated), Wade (animated), and Ties (3D printed).
Galleries: Famous photos and the cameras they were taken with, the suggestive photographs of Jane Russell, the 'lobotomized girl' look that reigns on Instagram, famous people made into babies, dancers doing household chores, disgusting foods from the past, the worst tattoos of Argentina world champion, Christmas sweaters, covers of Liberty magazines (1930s), Animated Dump of the Week and Visual Dump.
Have a very nice weekend, whether you celebrate these dates or not. Big bear hug!
