In this edition of the Recommended Links: The invention of zero, UFO cults, carrier pigeons, the position of toilet paper, bank heist movies, and hacking with sounds, among much more, with videos and galleries included. Enjoy!
The extraordinary concept about nothing that led to the invention of zero: "Of course, to imagine such a number of zeros, one had to invent it first. The notion was already present in several cultures, such as the Maya and the Babylonian, which used markers for the absence of quantity. But it was the Indians who turned that absence into a 0, and called it shunya (in Sanskrit), or emptiness. Giving nothingness a symbol, in other words, saying that nothing was something, was possibly the greatest conceptual leap in the history of mathematics. When did they do it?"
Chen Tao, the strange cult that worshipped UFOs: "Between 1993 and 2001 there existed a strange sect called Chen Tao ('Chen's tao', or 'the true path'). Its official name was the Soul Light Research Association. It was a religion made up of various ideologies (including the belief in extraterrestrial beings) created by Hon-Ming Chen (1955-), which existed in Taiwan and the United States. Chen, a former sociology professor at the Chianan College of Pharmacology and Sciences, founded this religious sect by mixing beliefs from Buddhism, folk religion, Christianity, and Western New Age cults."
The geopolitics of papers, free knowledge against the millionaire academic journal industry: "On January 6, 2011, the police of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) arrested Aaron Swartz. This twenty-four-year-old programmer and activist was known for developing the RSS format for distributing content on the web, and for promoting Reddit, Creative Commons, and the Demand Progress initiative for an open internet. He was accused of having irregularly downloaded millions of PDFs from the JSTOR platform, an academic repository accessible from the institution's servers."
Pulp Science Fiction - The Pocket Novels that Made Us Happy: "The concept was already in those books that in Spain were known as 'duro novels' for their low price, or 'pocket novels' for their practical format (later the defunct Editorial Bruguera would coin the term 'bolsilibro'). They were not sold mainly in bookstores, but at newspaper and magazine stands, covering genres as varied as western, war, detective, espionage, horror, romance, martial arts (!!!) and, of course, the pulp science fiction that concerns us today, with stories of simple and direct plots that sought to entertain and boy did they succeed."
The 20 best bank heist movies: true stories, amazing curiosities, and the best shootout ever filmed: "The best bank heist movies are often surprisingly based on true events. Did you know that the robber in 'Heat' existed in real life? That 'La casa de papel' was inspired by a Spike Lee film, that the Turin Mafia helped shoot 'Un trabajo en Italia', that Steve McQueen was an insufferable diva while filming 'La huida', or that the biggest bank robber in South Africa was a police captain? Discover who he was, and many more curiosities, with this amazing list of the 20 best bank heist movies."
The Seishu Netsuke Museum of Kyoto and its miniature worlds: "From the photographs in the header and inside the report, the reader might think these are wooden carvings or other traditional crafts. In reality, these are pieces that measure no more than 3 or 5 cm. Netsuke are unique miniatures also known as 'small worlds that fit in the palm of your hand'. Originally, they were used to hang and secure pill boxes, cigarette cases, or purses from the sash of a kimono."
Can a photograph change the world?: "Portraying injustices is nothing new. From the early years of the twentieth century to the present, many photographers have been concerned with leaving their testimony. But can one try to reform, to straighten out the world through a photograph? You will be surprised to learn the number of photographers who, with their images, have tried to persuade of the need to change the reality around us. In these cases, photography has the intention of amending, of denouncing certain situations, and of provoking responses."
The carrier pigeon that saved the crew of a bomber: "On February 23, 1942, a Bristol Beaufort bomber of the RAF, heavily damaged by enemy fire after a mission over Norway, was returning with great difficulty to its base. It finally crashed into the sea more than 160 kilometers from home. Fighting against the freezing water and unable to transmit an accurate position to the base, the crew faced certain death by hypothermia in the cold North Sea. But as the plane descended, the crew had managed to use their last chance: Winkie, a carrier pigeon."
Extraterrestrial visits... what for?: "OK, let's look at the possibilities. Well, first of all, you know, we have that little problem of cosmic distances. You probably know it all too well, but let me remind you: in the universe almost everything is very far away. That translates into two things: extremely long travel times and enormous amounts of energy to cross them and make it noticeable. Because, for example, with the fastest ship we have built so far, it would take between 6000 and 7000 years to reach the nearest solar system, that is, Proxima Centauri."
Found on an asteroid without contact with Earth: remnants of vitamin B3 and uracil, basic compounds for life: "He and his colleagues have used recently developed small-scale analytical techniques to analyze the samples. In addition to uracil and niacin, they have detected other organic molecules (a selection of amino acids, amines, and carboxylic acids). This same team of researchers had already found them in meteorites that fell on Earth, but their detection in pristine samples reinforces the theory of an extraterrestrial origin."
Now they can hack your phone with just a sound. The problem is you won't hear it: "A research team of computer engineering professors from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and the University of Colorado (UCCS) have managed to develop a new way to penetrate other devices. It has been named NUIT (acronym for 'Near-Ultrasonic Inaudible Trojan') and, in essence, consists of playing ultrasound to give orders to the voice assistants of Google, Apple, Amazon, or Microsoft. Once they receive the commands through their microphones, there is little to do."
The position of toilet paper, the greatest drama of humanity (applied to social constructivism): "The funny thing is that, throughout the section's fifty-six years of history, the most controversial and dramatic topic, the most tense and heated, the one that ended up saturating the mailbox and the columnist's life after receiving the greatest number of letters (more than fifteen thousand missives) signed by very agitated readers, was also the most unexpected issue possible: the correct position of the toilet paper roll on the bathroom holder. Something that many sociologists would end up considering worthy of study in schools."
Videos
Like nothing happened, finding a fossil, sea cucumber feeding, realistic simulation of a trip with psilocybin, a song sung by Michael Jackson, soccer and dance lesson, incredible car accident, Everything is a Remix, Deadpool vs WonderCon 2023, Back To The Future Part III (deleted scene), golfing robot, the strength of a construction helmet, how the Agent Smith vs Neo scene was filmed, delivery person risks life to deliver package, the escaping cow, nom nom, one riff per year from 1965 to 2022, audio, what happens on the surface of a strawberry, Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing, the Christian video games that challenged Nintendo, Never tell a child that a question is stupid, the God of PC fans, backpack factory for elementary school students in Japan, the size of animal penises (comparison), from the smallest to the biggest dogs, and Ties (an animated short).
Galleries
Covers of the magazine "Fantastic Adventures", fishermen of the past, brain map, the most beautiful animals, Saudi Flower Men, Pachimon, the pioneer of graphic design, Asya Kozina's paper creations, the art of Boris Indrikov, selfies of people from the past, sculpture with pencils, Japanese wood drawings, illustrations of "Marvels of the Universe", the Vertedero Animado de la Semana and the Tiradero Visual.
https://old.neoteo.com/como-usar-chatgpt-en-ms-dos/Thanks for your visit, buddy! We'll read each other when we read each other! Hopefully in a week. Until then!
