Friday, December 21, 2018

Friday Links!

Leading off this week, from Dan, and it's wonderful in every conceivable way: Ex-NASA Engineer’s Fart-Laced ‘Glitter Bomb’ Stuns Package Thieves.

Boy, out of nowhere, the holiday links edition is just huge, and there are plenty of great stories.

This is an absolutely tremendous read: It Was Japan’s Most Daring Car. Then the Economy Imploded.

From Steven Davis, and this is remarkable: The Voder: 1939, the worlds first electronic voice synthesizer. And more: Victor Talking Machines - Antiques with Gary Stover. This is both amazing and somehow creepy: Utterance robot finally got the same voice as humans, This is a nightmare: Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret.

From C. Lee, and it's excellent: The Oldest Surviving Form of Theater. This is fascinating: Smart ships using the wind and air bubbles to save fuel. Also fascinating: Uncovering the hidden colour of history. Thought provoking: Economics: The Discipline That Refuses to Change.

From Wally, and it's an amazing war story: Triple-Axis Ace.

From Bryan G., and it's an excellent read: The Yoda of Silicon Valley: Donald Knuth, master of algorithms, reflects on 50 years of his opus-in-progress, “The Art of Computer Programming.”

From Chris Meadowcraft, and this is fascinating: These Dinosaurs' Noses Made Breathing Complicated for a Very Good Reason.

Every bit as much of a jackass as expected: The Great Heavy Metal Hoax: How a down-on-his-luck headbanger fabricated a persona, faked a tour, and promoted himself as a hard-rock savior.

From Meg McReynolds, and it's comprehensive: A ranking of 100 — yes, 100 — Christmas songs.

From Paul Meyer, and it's an incredible story: Lund professor freed student from Islamic State war zone.

From Steve Nygard, and I heartily agree: The Devil's Hair Dryer: Hell is other people, with leaf blowers. This is excellent: Why It's Almost Impossible to Jump Higher Than 50 Inches | WIRED. I'm on board with this: The Cube Rule of Food Identification.

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