006— February 4, 2017
A Lost Continent, Minimalism = Happiness, Learning How to Coach, Fancy Photography +
If you’re like me, then you’re probably feeling bummed out about politics and technology right about now. Instead of dwelling on it, I want to dig into the good stuff that you probably didn’t read this week.
I recognize that last week’s issue was dense and I’m making up for that this week. This issue is focused and to the point. Let’s go!
‘Lost continent’ found under Mauritius in the Indian Ocean
It might sound implausible, but deep at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, a research team, led by South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand, has found pieces of an ancient continent. The lava-covered piece of continent, dubbed ‘Mauritia,’ was found under the popular island of Mauritius. According to the report published this week in the journal Nature Communications, the piece of crust is left over from the breakup of Gondwanaland, a super-continent that existed more than 200 million years ago.
Yet another reason to visit Mauritius in the not too distant future. I’m almost certain that screenwriters are writing a made-for-TV movie about this.
Link (CNN)
Why Does Minimalism Make Danes the Happiest People on Earth?
Government attached huge importance to innovative design as a route to societal well-being, and believed that it could directly make the country a happier place to live in. So in their hands architectural minimalism was a kind of social engineering; they were certainly on to something.
One of my friends is a runway model who periodically goes to Denmark for shows. He’s repeatedly told me that the Danes have a sense of fashion that exudes a spirit of timelessness.
Link (HYPEBEAST)
The Education of a Coach’s Son
The sessions started with the mute button: “My grandfather hated listening to announcers, so the game was always muted and he could talk,” Steve says. “He taught me how to watch and taught me what to look for. He’d sit there and watch — that’s how he died [in 2005] — in his chair, watching football on a Saturday.”
Great look into Steve Belichick’s upbringing as a student of the game. You don’t have to be a fan of the New England Patriots to appreciate the article. It’s not easy growing up Belichick.
Link (Ringer)
All dressed up: the photography of Emily Dickey and Dustin LeFevre
Emily Dickey and Dustin LeFevre are landscape photographers who seek out remote locations. A couple of years ago, they started to complement their standard landscape images with something a little different — portraits of themselves in formalwear, adding a human element and a dramatic sense of scale to their work. And it’s no coincidence that Dickey wears a wedding dress in some of their images: the couple got married last summer.
My wife and I took our own engagement photos and I recall the process being complicated. It’s hard to manage a composition while making sure to pose correctly…especially in fancy clothes! These photographs are beautiful and this couple deserves a lot of credit.
Link (DP Review)
Dark Blue Tiger
An insane shot by Warayut Pachsri. You should check out his entire 500px gallery if you’re interested in seeing more butterfly photography and other beautiful nature shots.
Link (500px)
The Death of Pablo
‘The Death of Pablo’ is a haunting set of tracks, inspired by Kanye West’s ‘The Life of Pablo.’ The Pablo Collective produces hollow, glitchy beats which echo the mechanical descent into death. I highly recommend this project, as it challenges the ear and urges a sense of anxiety.
I’ve made it through the first few tracks. There’s a haunting vibe to this project that I can’t quite put my finger on. For Kanye fans looking for something different, you can stream it or download it for free.
Link (Bandcamp)
My method is different. I do not rush into actual work. When I get an idea I start at once building it up in my imagination. I change the construction, make improvements and operate the device in my mind. It is absolutely immaterial to me whether I run my turbine in thought or test it in my shop. I even note if it is out of balance. There is no difference whatever, the results are the same. In this way I am able to rapidly develop and perfect a conception without touching anything.
This quote is by Nikola Tesla. Damn.
Google doesn’t break out revenues from its cloud infrastructure, choosing to lump it in with other non-advertising businesses like hardware and Google Play sales. But that segment totaled $3.4 billion in sales in the most recent quarter. In that case, $400 million a year is actually a significant portion of the segment’s business.
At a certain point, most companies stop relying on cloud providers and start building out their own data center. The whole infrastructure game is a delicate tradeoff between capital and operating expenditures. I’m surprised that Snap is going to spend this much money on Google Cloud. It’s 2/3 of what they are trying to raise in their $3 billion IPO.
DNA methylation — the reversible addition of a chemical marker to DNA that can affect gene expression — decreased in Scott during flight and increased in Mark over the same period, Feinberg says. Levels for both men returned close to preflight levels after Scott came back to Earth. What this means isn’t yet clear, Feinberg says.
I wonder if companies like SpaceX will make changes to their Mars program based on the conclusions drawn from the study of Brothers Kelly.
Both the Switch and the Wii U GamePad have 6.2-inch screens, but the newer system is dramatically thinner and more portable. This is despite the fact that the Switch screen unit actually contains the entire console hardware; to play it on the TV, you plug it into a dock with simple video-out capabilities, whereas the Wii U GamePad gets its images wirelessly beamed from a separate console.
Progress.
Skin is a love song. It explores our desires as individuals to be together even when life pulls us in different directions.
There’s a little bit of Björk in here — I’m looking forward to her debut.
Link (Stereogum)
We’ll end this week with a couple of great music videos that were released this past week.
The first is by dvsn for their track Too Deep.
The dvsn album was released last year but the group just released this music video. I love the production of this video: the colors and lighting fits the mood of this song. Caution: it’s NSFW.
The second music video worth mentioning is by Sampha for (No One Knows Me) Like The Piano.
An angel by her side, all the times I knew we couldn’t cope
They said that it’s her time, no tears in sight, I kept the feelings close
And you took hold of me and never, never, never let me go
’Cause no one knows me like the piano in my mother’s home
In my mother’s home
I remember hearing this song a few weeks ago and I’m glad that it has an accompanying music video. The minimalism of the art direction perfectly complements the song.
Thanks for reading issue 006. Super Bowl Sunday is tomorrow — let’s hope for a great game and even better commercials!
To those that have sent feedback — thank you! I read every email and do my best to reply. If you enjoyed this, please recommend this to your friends/family (aka — hit the heart button).
See you next week! 🐨
