What better way to start the day than with a bowl of eggo nut frosted strawberry pancakes. I think I’ll pass on the carbonated waffle balls, even if they are the “gold standard for waffle ball fun innovation using wheat-based flavors and crispy aluminum foil.”
Links
Short and not so sweet
As short stories go, this one’s very clever — and ruthless.
Excel World Cup?
Lots of talk about that Formula 1 result, but here’s a sports story from the weekend I wasn’t expecting to read about — the Microsoft Excel Financial Modeling World Cup. You can try it for yourself, if you like. Or find help on TikTok.
Robotic-tock
If you want to know the time, ask a robot.
Life’s a collection of jigsaw pieces
Take a moment to explore the fragments that define our identities in this non-linear interactive piece by Sam Villamin.
Technological competence inequality
We have some people speculating on the hi-tech homes of the future, whilst others are seriously struggling with the technology of today. Well, of 14 years ago really.
Outlaws
Banksy’s allowed another one of his artworks to be destroyed. Instead of being shredded in an auction house, this one was deliberately painted over by a Hollywood A-lister, at the behest of the BBC.
Twenty years
A very poignant account of one family’s grief and search for meaning in the twenty years since 9/11. It’s hard to believe it was that long ago. An unthinkable tragedy.
Tick tock ticker
A tech report from The Verge combining two of my favourite things — watches and anxiety.
Got a light?
Someone needs to buy Tomohiro Okazaki a lighter, he’s having serious difficulties with his matches.
How not to write html
Brutalist basketball
This member of the Japanese basketball team never fails to score. Perhaps there’s an Olympic sport I can get behind after all.
Take your time
With a title that recalls Wait But Why’s method of considering a typical lifespan that I’ve mentioned a few times here, Oliver Burkeman’s new book, Four Thousand Weeks: Time and How to Use It, almost sounds like an anti-productivity manual.
Take a shortcut
This hypnotically simple animation from Martin Wattenberg (previously) held my attention for far longer than I expected.
Scrolling to Mars
The South China Morning Post has a fun, animated visualisation of the Zhu Rong rover’s seven month journey to Mars and the three months spent orbiting the planet before finally landing. It makes it all look very simple, but it’s such a long way away.
Looking for your next read?
As great as these books from @paperbackparadise and @vintage_covers may seem, you might have trouble tracking them down on Amazon.
March 2020
It’s great to see xkcd’s latest cartoon is optimistically updating that depressing calendar from last year.
Just click and scroll
I had more fun than I was expecting with this little screen toy Trassel (Swedish for tangle, you’ll see why) from interface designer Hakim El Hattab.
Stark consequences
Another striking data visualisation from Mona Chalabi, this time a simple bar chart showing what happens to US police officers after they have killed someone.
Mac Chimes of Death
Last year I shared a link to someone recreating Windows start up sounds. Here’s perhaps the opposite, the sounds Macs made when they didn’t boot up properly.
Miscellaneous Details 