009: Scrabble scoring, GMU's historical hoaxes, and the 30-year-old Amiga machine
Plus, the Pneutube!
Hey! This is a newsletter about what I currently find interesting in the world.
Interesting Reads - links from around the web
Does Scrabble Need To Be Fixed? - “If we want to make Scrabble scoring more indicative of skill, we’ve been looking at the wrong part of the game for years.”
China Filed 54% More Trademark Applications in 2017 in Push to Become Major Branding Player - Many might find this ironic, considering the fact that Chinese factories take the IP of Western companies and produce (sometimes better) copycats of the same product.
George Mason University's historical hoaxes - The Edward Owens hoax managed to fool the media, while Reddit serial killer hoax was debunked in an hour.
How a Medical Catastrophe Can Bankrupt a Life - “I was an invalid, completely useless to all around me at a time when those same people needed me the most.”
How the IRS Was Gutted - Tax cuts and the Affordable Healthcare Act.
1980s Amiga has been running the AC and heat in 19 schools for 30 years - The only person who knows how to fix its software glitches is the high school student who originally programmed it in the 80s.
An Elephant Crackup? - This long read investigates the similarities between elephants’ and humans’ behavior as a result of childhood trauma.
Home College: an Idea Whose Time Has Come (Again) - I deeply wish I could do this.
The Last Curious Man - I wish I had met Anthony Bourdain.
The Boys in the Band - I love Brockhampton.
Colorize - Colorize your old photos with machine learning, based on Jason Antic’s DeOldify.
baddiewinkle - A 90-year-old Instagram influencer who works with brands like Sketchers and Urban Outfitters.
Shutter - photo of the week
Pneutube, an architecture experiment by the Eventstructure Research Group (ERG). Read more about it here.
Tracks - song recommendations
The Beach Boys - Surfin’ USA
The Waterboys - Sweet Thing
Shakey Graves - Dining Alone
Thank you for your time. I’d appreciate it if you would forward it to a friend :)
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