Oh, I can't believe it... I'll finally have Fridays off! Because yes, ladies and gentlemen, these are the last Recommended Links of the Week I will ever publish in the history of the world, as I already announced in the Visual Dump and the Animated Dump. At the end of everything, my "formal" farewell, but first... the countries that pollute the most, the first mechanical calculator, praise of the shadow, Avatar as a disease diagnostic system and everyone against autonomous taxis... among the best articles, videos and galleries the web has given us this week! Enjoy!
The countries that pollute the most in the world, gathered in a detailed chart: "Every year, 36 million tons of CO2 are released into the atmosphere, the main driver of climate change. Most of these emissions come from the use of fossil fuels, non-renewable energy generation, and polluting human activities. Stopping that trend has become a key objective for nations. But how this obligation is shared among countries and individuals has created an ongoing controversy." And per capita country emissions.
How the arithmometer, the world's first mechanical calculator, worked: "Pascal's arithmometer (which he called Pascaline) worked with a set of gears that could turn individually and were marked with digits from 0 to 9. Each wheel represented a different decimal order, allowing calculations with any number. To perform an addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division, the operator manually turned the wheels until the correct digits were aligned based on the calculation tables."
The technology used in the movie Avatar that is revolutionizing the diagnosis of some diseases: "The motion capture suits that bring characters to life in movies like Avatar are helping researchers track the onset of diseases that affect movement. The new system uses artificial intelligence to analyze body movements. In tests from a study published in Nature Medicine, experts in the United Kingdom measured the severity of two genetic disorders twice as fast as expert physicians in these conditions."
The Fly (1958) - Paul Sawtell & Bert Shefter - Musical lyricism for horror: "Among that inexhaustible list of science fiction classics that the prolific decade of the fifties gave us, The Fly (1958), directed by Kurt Neumann and starring that indestructible master of terror and mystery Vincent Price, is one of those more than modest productions that end up placing themselves, without breaking a sweat, among the most interesting and remembered films of all time, with some scenes that are already an indisputable part of the iconography of fantastic cinema."
Half a century of a crucial story for science fiction - The Rollerball Murder (1973): Fifty years ago, Esquire magazine published a short story by writer William Harrison: The Rollerball Murder. Unpublished in Spanish, it was nevertheless a significant turning point for science fiction - in aesthetics and substance - worldwide, largely due to its conversion into a cult film two years later, scripted by the writer himself. The text is a pioneer within a subgenre, Cyberpunk, which would formally be founded a decade later with Blade Runner (1982) and Neuromancer (1984).
Dreadstar - Jim Starlin (1980): Although it was Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who laid the foundations of Marvel's cosmogony in titles like "The Fantastic Four" or "Thor", the author who has forever remained linked to the concept of "cosmic adventures" in the world of American comics has been Jim Starlin. His stories and characters became absolute benchmarks for the publisher, from the legendary death of Captain Marvel to Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet. Several of his contributions to the DC Universe share the same spirit of epic grandeur, such as "The Strange", "Cosmic Odyssey" or "The Death of the New Gods".
The 'Pearl Harbor' of the Cilician pirates against Rome: "One of the little-known military events in the naval history of the Mediterranean was the assault of the Cilician pirates on the port of Rome, Ostia, in 67 BC; which led to their greatest victory... and in less than half a year, their end. An event that – apologizing for presentism to catch readers' attention – could be compared to the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 against the United States of America. With a similar result four years later."
Being a princess in the Middle Ages: "Being a princess in the Middle Ages could be considered a highly desirable glamorous position. However, the reality of life as a princess was very far from the fairy tale image we see in popular culture. A medieval princess's life was very often full of political intrigue, danger, and limited personal freedom. Unlike most women of that time, they received an education, although it was often limited compared to that of men. They could learn to read and write, as well as skills such as music, sewing, and etiquette."
Tanizaki, reasons to praise the shadow: "For Tanizaki, the sight of a shiny object causes discomfort, and he believes this is a cultural and collective attitude; that's why the Japanese do not polish their kettles, cups, or silver objects and prefer to see how they darken over time until they turn black. It's not that they have anything against things that shine, he explains, but they have always favored deep, somewhat veiled reflections over superficial, cold shine; that is, in both natural stones and artificial materials, that slightly altered shine that irresistibly evokes the effects of the passage of time."
In San Francisco, the race for robot taxis generates friction and controversy: "For a year now, its testing no longer legally requires a human in the vehicle for unexpected situations. Encountering a Jaguar with no one behind the wheel is part of everyday life, not a science fiction story. The total robotization of that experimentation comes with drawbacks. Cars stopped on the road, blocking the bus line, or crashing in the middle of a crime scene in front of angry police: in those cases the Cruise and Waymo vehicles stand out, even though no fatal accidents for humans have been recorded."
The Taliban have eradicated 95% of opium cultivation in Afghanistan. The consequences for the world are drastic: "Afghanistan has for decades been the world's main provider of opium (from which heroin comes). The international community tried, unsuccessfully, to curb the drug economy in Afghanistan, which in 2021 represented at least 14% of the country's GDP. But it was not until the return of the Taliban to power, in August 2021 after the US withdrawal, that the old Western desire has been fulfilled: reducing opium cultivation to a minimum."
The first studies show that the emergence of ChatGPT is making its human competitors more precarious: When measuring which freelance workers suffered most from the emergence of ChatGPT, researchers found that the most experts were not safe from that precarization. Quite the opposite. "We find no evidence that a high-quality service, measured by its previous performance and employment, moderates the adverse effects on employment. In fact, we find suggestive evidence that the best freelancers are disproportionately affected by AI." The other side of the coin is that the appearance of generative AIs can help less-experienced freelancers.
Videos
Hacking a 1997 game, the impact of magma under a house, can two people repopulate the world?, Guinness record for stacking the most Jenga blocks on a vertical one, mushrooms and spores, a site that always shows a live sunset, the musical problem no one has been able to solve, pick-up coach, tips for traveling to medieval Europe, the biology of the squid, F1 pilots racing hovercrafts in the desert, the frogman and his fishing with a red sock, what happens under pressure, building a toaster from scratch, Killing In the Name by Rage Against the Machine with Sega Genesis sounds, opening canned food 55 years old, 50 ancient war machines, domino effect, playing video games with your mind, several crows playing in the snow, "I was a software pirate", spring-powered ax, the most dangerous bird on a beach, PJ Harvey at Tiny Desk Concert, and the sci-fi short "Melody Skylark And The Cosmic Soup".
Galleries
Color photographs of Egypt from 1936, comedy photos in the wild 2023, retro covers of Cavalcade magazine, wearable art competition 2023, urban photo awards 2023, illustrations by Simon Prades, mustache and beard contest 2023, OnePlus award-winning photos 2023, technology ads in Playboy magazine from the 80s, the Animated Dump and the Weekly Visual Dump as the finishing touch.
https://old.neoteo.com/rescatando-un-commodore-amiga-500-de-1989/Well, friends: the Recommended Links are over... and now forever! As I've been announcing since last Wednesday's Dump (because I wanted to give myself time to say goodbye properly), I'm leaving NeoTeo, and I do it voluntarily. The site will continue as always, just without my contributions.
It was 20 years (TWENTY YEARS!) of publishing all kinds of craziness (except for that time I had my gallbladder operated on) and it was great. NeoTeo gave me so much, and it was the best job a person could have in their life. Its owner, also a friend I adore with all my soul, was the best "boss" in the world. Thanks to NeoTeo and the free time one gets from working from home for 20 years, I was able to straighten out my life, marry a woman I adore, enjoy my free time, learn infinite things of all kinds, and build my own house, among many other luxuries.
But, I'm not going to lie, I'm very tired of the online world. So many links, so many images, so many recommended games, so many viral videos, so many loops... they completely burned my head. Puff, charred. I'm old, entering my mid-40s, and I want (or rather NEED) to disconnect completely. Total detox and the search for new adventures, many of which I already have in sight and do not involve a single bit of digital information.
My detox begins the moment I hit "Publish", so I'm sure I won't answer your comment, if you leave one, but I want you to know one thing: None of this would have been possible without your visits, which kept all my sections and past articles among the most visited things on the site, with thousands upon thousands of weekly views. I may not even know who you are, but there will always be a place in my heart for you and for all those who, with their clicks, helped me keep such a privileged place in such a dark world.
Seriously, guys, I love you very much and I am very grateful.
A huge hug.
