Category: <span>Reading</span>

A Framework for the Metaverse /// One step beyond: the ascent of mountain runner Kílian Jornet /// How to raise a boy: my mission to bring up a son fit for the 21st century /// It’s not all about racing: why the bike industry needs to take a chill pill /// ‘Lifechanging’: the scheme that offers free train travel to people fleeing abuse /// The Gospel of Consumption /// Apple’s photo scanning and our state of forced collective paranoia /// How ‘The Pet Revolution’ Unleashed A New Top Dog In America /// Survey Shows 55% Of 100 World’s Top Banks Have Exposure To Bitcoin And Other Crypto Assets /// A post about client sexual harassment /// Poo, Potholes and Park-Ups – Why Highlanders Are Tired of Scotland’s North Coast 500 Route /// The Ideology of Human Supremacy /// Whitewashed Hope: A Message from 10+ Indigenous Leaders and Organizations /// Dubai Is A Parody Of The 21st Century /// Lorde’s Work Here Is Done. Now, She Vibes. /// Why Emotionally Intelligent People Embrace the 2-Way Door Rule to Make Better, Faster Decisions /// Some kind of hell on Earth /// Comma Queen: To Whom It May Concern /// Welcome to Nestflix /// Study: Evolution now accepted by majority of Americans /// 7 Most Effective Self-Esteem Tools and Activities /// Marc Ribot Makes the Case for Loud Music /// Why it took us thousands of years to see the colour violet /// Spirituality is a brain state we can all reach, religious or not /// The Coen Brother

Finally, a Film That Understands Social Media /// We are all conspiracy theorists /// Why You Shouldn’t Use Google Maps On Your iPhone After Update /// What Makes a Cult a Cult? /// This Star Wars-Inspired E-Skin Lets Robots ‘Feel’ Objects /// The Greatest Showman | “This Is Me” with Keala Settle /// It Was All a Dream /// 10 Hip Stretches You Need In Your Life If You Sit A Lot /// The lie of “expired” food and the disastrous truth of America’s food waste problem /// The Winners Of The 2021 Audubon Photography Awards Are Breathtaking /// Giant pandas are no longer endangered, thanks to conservation efforts, China says /// Robot paramedic carries out CPR in ambulance in UK first /// The world’s best cities for mental wellbeing, according to data crunchers /// A Beginner’s Guide to Foam Rolling for Tight, Sore Muscles /// They Swore by the Diet I Created /// Earth Restored — Toby Ord /// Jason Sudeikis Is Having One Hell of a Year /// Instagram Has Become SkyMall /// Half a Life in 2 Minutes /// Shorter working week trial in Iceland hailed as an ‘overwhelming success’ /// Mystery of the wheelie suitcase: how gender stereotypes held back the history of invention /// Quarantined to Room 903 /// The artist touring the UK in an ice-cream van, to talk about grief /// Dancing With Systems /// The Best Science Fiction of 2021: The Arthur C Clarke Award Shortlist /// Podswap | Keep AirPods Alive and out of the Landfill /// OPEN LETTER TO THE GOOD GUYS /// World’s Largest Seagrass Project Proves “You Can Actually Restore the Oceans” /// When Will It Get Too Hot for the Body to Survive? /// How The Olympic Medal Table Explains The World /// Penniless: why a Victoria man has gone two decades without money

Taylor Tries Juggling From Above /// Four Laps: a Looping Video About Looping Videos /// Exit the Fatherland /// How to Negotiate with Ransomware Hackers /// The Expanse UI Design /// Welcome to the YOLO Economy /// The Tyranny Of Time /// Some medical devices don’t mean to be racist, but they are /// Why ‘quirky’ people are attractive /// The Circles of Friendship /// Simone Biles, Mesmerizing in Slow Motion /// The Minister of Chaos /// Replacement parts /// List of common misconceptions /// The World’s Most Dangerous Tree /// The Surprisingly Fun Story of How the Popsicle Was Invented by an 11-Year-Old Boy /// Riding your first Century (100 miles) – a guide for normal people. /// Stewart Lee — Le Document /// The King of the Geezer Teasers /// GB News, week 1: It takes until Tuesday to go full wingnut /// Houseguests /// ‘The water is coming’: Florida Keys faces stark reality as seas rise /// 100 Visions of Fatherhood /// A Shopper’s Heaven — Real Life /// When a Valedictorian Spoke of His Queer Identity, the Principal Cut Off His Speech /// How I Saved Enough to Buy a House With My Parents’ Money /// People Are Sharing Examples Of “Liminal Spaces” That Are Unsettling Yet Familiar At The Same Time (56 Pics) /// Notifications Off! The Distraction-Free Benefits of Five-Hour Work Days /// Amazon destroying millions of items of unsold stock in one of its UK warehouses every year, ITV News investigation finds

Tennis TV /// A quiet revolution: the movement to preserve lockdown’s hush /// Cycling is ten times more important than electric cars for reaching net-zero cities /// Reiki Can’t Possibly Work. So Why Does It? /// The Hot-Person Vaccine /// Another brain-frying optical illusion: What color are these spheres? /// The Dark Side of the Houseplant Boom /// The Hardest Ending I Ever Wrote, As Told by Six Screenwriters /// The Case Against the Eagles /// There’s something in my eye: why we happy-cry and what it does for us /// Miscellany № 90: 🌀🪐☆✻, or, the grawlix /// Two Assholes Lost in the Woods: An Oral History of ‘Pine Barrens’ /// How Pixar Uses Hyper-Colors to Hack Your Brain /// Watch a New Director’s Cut of Prince’s Blistering “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” Guitar Solo (2004) /// A Better Way to Think About Climate Change and the Kids Conundrum /// Wheel Spiels: High-heeled Shoes on the Trans-Pennine Trail /// Knowing How To Be Solitary /// Cryptocurrency is an abject disaster /// How to experience more wow /// I Mailed an AirTag and Tracked Its Progress; Here’s What Happened : The Mac Security Blog /// Pay No Attention to That Cat Inside a Box /// How the Personal Computer Broke the Human Body /// Neural implant lets paralyzed person type by imagining writing /// Charles Crocker’s Spite Fence /// ‘I hate everybody including you’ /// The Memex Method /// How to Delete All Facebook Posts /// The Filing Cabinet /// Trashed: how the UK is still dumping plastic waste on the rest of the world /// A People Map of the UK /// 100 Visions of Motherhood /// Rewilding from beyond the grave: the burial plots that heal broken landscapes /// The Dangers of Elite Projection /// The Secret Psychology of Sneaker Colors /// We Know What You Did During Lockdown /// How to stop overthinking /// Close Friendships /// How Can We Encourage Bodily Autonomy in Our Children? /// One Man’s Amazing Journey to the Center of the Bowling Ball /// A few thoughts on depression /// Facebook Still ‘Secretly’ Tracks Your iPhone—This Is How To Stop It /// Stop Trying to Raise Successful Kids

A few articles I read over the past month, in no chronological order (oldest first).

Gentle Cinema /// retrofy your iPhone with ben vessey’s pixel perfect mac OS ’84 inspired icons /// Scotland to get new nature reserve as community ‘achieves the impossible’ /// A Black Army Rises to Fight the Racist Right /// Australia: Geologist beaten up by ‘angriest octopus’ on beach /// This Hubble image is so incredible you’ll swear it’s fake /// On Competitive Advantage /// My Generation Isn’t Suffering Enough /// Why Making Our Brains Noisier Feels Good /// The Kitchen Dad /// How Did Frasier Afford His Apartment? /// Why Silicon Valley’s most astute critics are all women /// Kindness /// How The Wrecking Crew Secretly Recorded Some of the Biggest Hits of the 1960s & 70s /// Unwanted Corkpull — Real Life /// “You Can Be a Different Person After the Pandemic” /// Earthrise /// Making sense of conspiracy theorists as the world gets more bizarre /// Seeing in the Dark, Breai Mason-Campbell /// Exploring the unreleased music in Prince’s vault /// diamond geezer /// How Fit Can You Get From Just Walking? /// In Conversation: Mads Mikkelsen /// Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra: The toughest, weirdest race you’ve never heard of /// Kindle Store /// Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ Sheet Music ‘Horribly Wrong’ for Years /// There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing /// Apr 19 Coffee Ritual: How I will use it to Hold Space /// Still Life /// Ian Knot – Ian’s Fast Shoelace Knot /// The Tyranny of the Female-Orgasm Industrial Complex /// Against meatposting /// The Secrets of the World’s Greatest Jailbreak Artist /// Just Leave Michael Collins Alone /// Strava: making a difference

• What Was Inside the Glowing Briefcase in Pulp Fiction?
  Before I started making my own web pages, I spent a not-insignificant amount of my time on the Internet trawling the alt.fan.tarantino newsgroup for bits of knowledge about Quentin Tarantino, Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs.
  Fascinating! (well not really, but still v.cool)

• iPad Pro (2018) Impressions
  (to the tune of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer) You know ‘Ticci and Gruber, @panzer and Ritchie… Marco and Jason, Joe and Rosemary… But do you recall, the most famous YouTuber of all? MKB(in)HD, had a very shiny Pro… Um, so, yeah.
  My favourite kind of review is one written by ‘real people’. 
• In Defence of Hate
  Hate can be valid and powerful, but far often it’s misused and misguided.

• American Women of the Far Right
  In the run-up to the violence last year around the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a woman named Erika, who is active in the white supremacist group Identity Evropa, was busy posting on Discord, an app originally used by gamers but used at that time by some on the far right.
  Important to remember, that there are all genders involved in this. The men are the figureheads, but there are many other people supporting them.

• Your City Has a Gender and It’s Male
  Why city designers are increasingly thinking about the female perspective. I have a secret to tell you about my city,” she says. “It has to do with what Eve Ensler calls the feminine cell.” It was the autumn of 2016.
  Rings true for Glasgow.

• Thanks David Dimbleby. Now maybe Question Time can get with the times
  Imagine the joy of turning to David “Brexit will be a walk in the park” Davis, live on TV, and saying: “Some people might think you ARE the joke about Brexit.” Last night David Dimbleby showed why he has been able to choose his own abdication date.
  Not a show I watch because UGH.

• The best doesn’t exist. A psychologist explains why we can’t stop searching.
  Given that we live in a consumer culture where you can get anything — a T-shirt, fancy whiskey, blood pressure medication — delivered to your door within hours, it is surprisingly difficult to buy things.
  I feel this. Well, I used to (hang on, am I getting wiser as I get older?!)

• Data From Millions Of Smartphone Journeys Proves Cyclists Faster In Cities Than Cars And Motorbikes
  Smartphone data from riders and drivers schlepping meals for restaurant-to-home courier service Deliveroo shows that bicycles are faster than cars. In towns and cities, bicyclists are also often faster than motorized two-wheelers. Deliveroo works with 30,000 riders and drivers in 13 countries.
  Now we just need the cities to step up and deliver the infrastructure.
  

• Not Here to Dance
  This is the story of the greatest night of my entire life. This is about a moment from the Ballon d’Or ceremony that I will never forget, even if I lived 200 years. It has nothing to do with dancing.
  Yes to this. Sport is so very visible, and men are still such jackasses.
  

• AlphaZero: Shedding new light on the grand games of chess, shogi and Go
  In late 2017 we introduced AlphaZero, a single system that taught itself from scratch how to master the games of chess, shogi (Japanese chess), and Go, beating a world-champion program in each case.
  How a computer started to learn like a human.
  

• How I Quit Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Amazon
  It was just before closing time at a Verizon store in Bushwick, New York last May when I burst through the door, sweaty and exasperated. I had just sprinted—okay I walked, but briskly—from another Verizon outlet a few blocks away in the hopes I’d make it before they closed shop for the night.
  tl:dr; it’s very very hard.

• This is What Happens to Kids’ Brains When They Talk To Alexa
  While I bathe my 3-year-old daughter Marty each evening, we use Alexa to play music — usually a head-spinning rotation of her three favorite songs from Frozen.
  Pause for thought. We really don’t know the longer reaching implications for so much of the technology we use these days.
  

• The technology that could end traffic jams
  We’ve all been there. Stuck at traffic lights that never seem to change to green. Sitting in queues of cars that stretch on for miles or delayed by a glut of slow traffic that suddenly disappears. Traffic jams are a blight on our modern, fast moving lives.
  A real bugbear, I know this technology exists, let’s use it!
  

• Tibet Is Going Crazy for Hoops
  It was within such a village, Zorge Ritoma, that Dugya Bum, a sheep and yak herder from the Golden Stone Clan, took up the sport.
  Zen basketball, see also; Chicago Bulls of the late 80s.

• A dog’s life: What would I sacrifice for the animal I love?
  I lifted Scout from her dog bed the way the surgeon had instructed, one arm cradling her bottom and the other under her front legs, and gently carried her to my bed.
  No, YOU’VE got something in your eye.

• The Endurance of A Christmas Carol
  On January 2, 1840, Dickens wrote to his printers, Bradbury and Evans, to thank them for their annual Christmas gift of a turkey. He chose his words with care:
  What’s this, what’s this! A christmas article!

• Year in Pictures 2018
  It was a year of populist rebellions and political stare-downs. China’s ambitious expansions raised hackles and pollution levels. Trade patterns were upended, and long-standing bans were lifted. Women gained power, and refugees fled violence and starvation.
  A picture tells… etc etc

• Penny Marshall, ‘Laverne & Shirley’ Star, Director, Dies at 75
  Penny Marshall, who starred alongside Cindy Williams in the hit ABC comedy “Laverne & Shirley” and then became a successful movie director, died on Monday night, Variety has confirmed. She was 75.
  I did not know she directed the movies she directed!

• The Rise of Anxiety Baking
  Last winter, a recipe for salted chocolate-chunk shortbread cookies spread through my social circle like a carbohydrate epidemic. One of my friends kept seeing the cookies pop up on Instagram and, relenting to digital peer pressure, eventually made them.
  Makes sense. I do enjoy baking, although mostly the eating part at the end.

• That Time Marines Dumped Millions of Dollars of Helicopters Into the Ocean to Save One Family
  Few feats of engineering are as impressive as a military-grade helicopter.
  Wow. In the midst of that war, at least there was a tiny glimmer of decency.

• Real Christmas trees are the greener choice
  A fake Christmas tree has some obvious advantages over the real thing. There’s no sticky sap. No needles shedding everywhere.
  We always had a fake tree. Time to review that choice.

• Prime and punishment
  Last August, Zac Plansky woke to find that the rifle scopes he was selling on Amazon had received 16 five-star reviews overnight. Usually, that would be a good thing, but the reviews were strange.
  Is Amazon too big to legislate?

• “Friends”: The television show that keeps on giving
  Fans of the hit TV show “Friends” were relieved last week to see the sitcom’s 236 episodes will continue streaming on Netflix through 2019.
  I am very guilty of rewatching. And yes, Ross just gets worse.

• The Best of 2018’s Bad Restaurant Reviews
  The year 2018 gave us all plenty to complain about, and it was no different for restaurant criticism.
  AH-MAZ-ING.

• 12 Reasons To Ditch The Diet Mentality
  It’s the end of the year, which means resolution season is right around the corner.
  Yes to this! Although I may have gone a little too far into the ‘not giving a shit what I eat’ zone…

• The Story of Dyngo, a War Dog Brought Home From Combat
  It was late—an indistinguishable, bleary-eyed hour. The lamps in the living room glowed against the black spring night. In front of me was a large dog, snapping his jaws so hard that his teeth gave a loud clack with each bark. His eyes were locked on me, desperate for the toy I was holding.
  What is it with stories about dogs… *sniff*