Things of note for the week ending Friday January 23rd, 2015.
1. HOW DO YOU BUILD AN AIRBUS?
It’s like I’m psychic, I know. The question has been on your lips all week, right? It’s incredible really, I honestly don’t know how I do it.
– Just stress-testing an Airbus wing –
Japes aside, if you were indeed pondering the above question then please, ponder no more. This rather excellent and informative video (5mins 16 seconds) can tell you all about it. I’m not a massive plane geek (not ‘nerd’ – check the venn diagram) but I really enjoyed it.
2.65m different parts? Amazing.
The wings are made of TAPE. STICKY TAPE. Amazing.
Plane-making factories can knock out one whole plane every two days? AMAZING.
2. A WAY IN WHICH GOOGLE GLASS WON
And now, a short interlude on the unexpected benefits behind the (so-called) demise of Google Glass:
Technology needs to be socially acceptable. I think in this case that Google Glass didn’t pass that test. A highlight that op eds on the closure of Google Glass like to look at is how it was ridiculed. This included – the way that it looks on your face. Not everyone wants to look like they’re performing sci-fi cosplay at a convention. It also means social acceptance of issues that are pretty unique today – privacy out in the world.
Now you could say that CCTV and government agencies are watching you anyway and there’s the old, OLD chestnut that if you’re not guilty, what’s the problem?
In fact, I think there is a social recoil to being possibly recorded overtly. Google Glass is not exactly subtle but many humans are also uncomfortable when they get close to a whopping great big TV camera that stands out like dogs’ balls.
The piece from which the above is quoted from is a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Good smart thinking.
3a. THE THINGS WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOVE
It’s a book, by Raymond Carver.
It provides a theatrical backbone to the (excellent) film, BIRDMAN.
After seeing (and subsequently waxing everso lyrical about) the latter, someone whose opinion I respect strongly recommended seeking out the former.
I did.
And with the melancholic stories of American life in a timeless era providing a backdrop for loss, desire, and wasted lives; it is an incredibly powerful read.
I am probably stupidly late to this but I don’t care.
Sometimes the words not written hit harder than the ones that are.
3b. REAL WORLD XIAOMI THINGS
My friend FJ has a Xiaomi Mi3 (sometimes he let’s me play with it).
It is a thing of beauty.
FJ and I share a mutual love of mobile technology and the fact that he has one of the shinier phones in the world is unsurprising to me – he is also a man of taste. But FJ isn’t a thing this week (sorry FJ).
The thing this week is FJ’s replacement handset. Y’see FJ’s Mi3 device suffered an issue with its SIM tray (I believe it got jammed) and FJ needed to get it replaced.
So he did.
Ordered a New @xiaomi #mi3 to replace the one I broke. Here's the packaging to avoid import duties: a gift. pic.twitter.com/xTAyfBZSR6
— FJ!! van Wingerde (@fj) January 19, 2015
I love this.
That is all.
Before we move on to THE NEXT THING, here are a couple of other Xiaomi things you might find interesting. First up is FJ’s review of said phone from August last year. Good insights here and definitely worth reading if you’re after something different for that achingly desperate pocket of yours.
Second thing is this announcement of Xiaomi’s latest flagship, the Mi Note. Fancy.
4. NEW TWITTER CARD ALERT: VOTE NOW
In my never-ending quest to be a leading source of knowledge on all things Twitter Card related, I thought I’d share this latest nugget that I spotted the other day –
While this isn’t exactly new news (Twitter was spotted messing around with these back in September of last year) it is the first time that I’ve spotted them in the wild.
#Vote Can improving the health of a nation's citizens directly result in economic growth? #WEF15 http://t.co/PgJCKdOLWl
— Bank of America News (@BofA_News) January 19, 2015
They’re weird, they don’t embed (see above), I can’t see a proper use for them (yet) and they seem to be only available to [selected] partners – read: paying advertisers. I’ve tried dicking about on the BIRDOPS page where they’re built but I’m not having much luck.
Oh well. They’re a thing, and now you know about them.
Woop.
Bonus Twitter thing: ‘Hey! Stop using Instagram!‘
5. HOW TO BE AN EXPLORER OF THE WORLD
Submitted without comment.
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Bonus items:
- True Detective director has signed to direct the upcoming film version of Stephen King’s ‘IT’. This is excellent news.
- Read a book.
- Whatsapp as newsletter? Interesting.
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Why not tell someone about it?
Whatley out.
EDIT: ‘3a’ and ‘3b’ this week. That’ll be because I’m an idiot and can’t count (it’s been a long week). Thank you to the super smart person who pointed this out.
There was one step in between: the SIM reader did break (a known design issue), I sent it to China, it came back, and then I just broke the screen. My own total stupid fault. I had to have one again, and fortunately the release of new flagship phones made the Mi3 even more economical. So yes, that was the packaging by the importer of a brand new phone. It was soooooo cute.