Month: November 2015

London is cosmopolitan

London has been cosmopolitan for 2 ka. using dna analysis, they found that even then, only 25% of inhabitants was born there.

White Terrorist Bingo

a propos the latest media fail

Money to burn

with policies like that, no wonder nothing gets done:

The Clean Power Plan aims at getting US power plants to use less coal, but we’re still subsidizing coal companies to produce more of it.

CSI pseudoscience

This past April, the FBI made an admission that was nothing short of catastrophic for the field of forensic science. In an unprecedented display of repentance, the Bureau announced that, for years, the hair analysis testimony it had used to investigate criminal suspects was severely and hopelessly flawed.

More smiles over time

As teeth whitening improved, smiles changed to show more teeth.
2017-05-16: This isn’t very good as it assumes perfect dentistry.

FaceApp is a smartphone app that can add a smile to an unsmiling person’s face. Olly Gibbs used the app at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum to improve the paintings on display there.

Rubik’s Cube World Record

insane.

North Korean Interiors

In every refurbished building we visit, there is a peculiarly consistent style of preschool color schemes and shiny synthetic surfaces, the pastel palettes and axial symmetry giving an eerie feeling of walking into a Wes Anderson film set, or a life-size Polly Pocket toy… kindergarten kitsch is the logical next step for a regime intent on projecting an image of carefree prosperity. It is architecture as anaesthetic, a powerful tool for the state to infantilize its people.

design has suddenly become nk’s best export.

Middle East Skyscrapers

Middle east continues to over-compensate. it looks like the middle east will continue to host the tallest buildings in the world: Kingdom Tower (2019): 1008 m, Bride of the Gulf (20??): 1152 m. i’m giving the bride project ~10% chance of success.

SmartHalo

i give this 50% chance, but the ui affordances are very elegant.

Miracle of Feeding Cities

this is a documentary i’m particularly looking forward to:

The Miracle of Feeding Cities will bring to life the often-invisible, always intricate food system–a system that operates non-stop with remarkable reliability despite myriad disruptions, capricious consumer behavior and rogue weather events. And, underlying this fast-paced, globally integrated supply chain, you’ll see plain old barter economics and a service-based industry run by the most unexpected and captivating characters you could hope to encounter.