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CHEAP: Bathe in books with 31% off the waterproof Kindle Paperwhite

May12
by on May 12, 2019 at 12:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Plugged


Welcome to CHEAP, our series about things that are good, but most of all, cheap. CHEAP! Books are great. Sorry, but that’s indisputable. There’s little as brilliant and magical as losing yourself in a novel. So, when the new, waterproof Kindle paperwhite has $40 off (that’s a 31 percent discount, making it the cheapest it has ever been), you best sit up and notice. It’s not everyday you can get this badgal for $90. One of the big debates in the literature world is the whether digital or analogue is the best way to read. It’s the new against the…

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Nuking asteroids could save the Earth — but we need to make it legal first

May12
by on May 12, 2019 at 9:00 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Space, syndication


The schlocky 1998 Bruce Willis movie Armageddon was the highest grossing film of that year. The blockbuster saw a master oil driller (Willis) and an unlikely crew of misfits place a nuclear bomb inside a giant asteroid heading for Earth, blow it up – and save humanity. Armageddon isn’t exactly a documentary: it’s packed full of sci-fi nonsense. But, 20 years on, its basic plot – of using a nuclear explosion to avert a cataclysmic asteroid collision – doesn’t seem quite as silly as it did at the time. Major asteroid impact is a low-probability, but high-consequence risk to life…

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The Y chromosome is disappearing – so what will happen to men?

May11
by on May 11, 2019 at 5:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, syndication


The Y chromosome may be a symbol of masculinity, but it is becoming increasingly clear that it is anything but strong and enduring. Although it carries the “master switch” gene, SRY, that determines whether an embryo will develop as male (XY) or female (XX), it contains very few other genes and is the only chromosome not necessary for life. Women, after all, manage just fine without one. What’s more, the Y chromosome has degenerated rapidly, leaving females with two perfectly normal X chromosomes, but males with an X and a shriveled Y. If the same rate of degeneration continues, the…

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Normalizing engineers’ rockstar status is destroying tech companies

May11
by on May 11, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Design & Dev, Podium


The door handles on the Tesla Model S are exceptionally terrible. Until you get used to them. Until you become an insider. Because no one really wants to wait for an actuated door handle that pops out in deference only to those who are worthy. For the mainstream passenger encountering this unnecessary mystery, Tesla’s user experience has taken a backseat in favor of self-aggrandizing exclusivity. It’s the kind of result that arises when engineers and developers view problems solely through the lens of their own experiences — one crafted with little empathy for outsiders and which brands them as exceptional…

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