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Follow a theoretical USB charger from creation to delivery and see, link by link, the steps in the supply chain that are invisible and probably out of mind. Also, learn a lot about how each step in the chain has links that are weak or corroding from conditions either systemic or situational It's an examination of Why Global Supply Chains May Never Be The Same [54m, YouTube], from WSJ. Mar 23 2022 but obviously produced pre-war.
posted by hippybear at 8:08 PM PST - 28 comments

An interview with Alok Vaid-Menon, "I Understand the Project of Trans-Feminism To Be About the Liberation of All Genders", and an essay by lazenby ("non-binary/agender gender identities... represent one of the most important realizations it’s possible for a person to have") [previously] discuss gender and art. [more inside]
posted by brainwane at 6:57 PM PST - 8 comments

Bruce Baker, a Chicago advertising exec, hit on the idea of giving away square-inch lots of land in "Sergeant Preston's Yukon," by putting deeds in boxes of Quaker Oats cereals in order to promote the cereal and a television show the company was sponsoring: Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. The Klondike Big Inch Land Promotion printed up 21 million deeds for one square inch of land in the Yukon (Dawson City) in 1955 and gave them away with the cereal. The land was real. The campaign was a sensational success. The deeds were never registerable but can now fetch up to $40 on eBay. Quaker Oats and the Canadian government still get phone calls about them. [via]
posted by jessamyn at 6:10 PM PST - 14 comments

Hoogeveen et al's "The Einstein effect provides global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity" attempts to measure the effect of both scientific and religious authority, in relation to world-view, on perceived credibility in many countries.
posted by eotvos at 10:53 AM PST - 11 comments

Russia’s chain of command for authorization of the use of nuclear weapons. Russia’s nuclear doctrine as of 2020 (summary of recent developments, more information below). Nuclear Deterrence 101. Under what circumstances might nuclear weapons be used? [more inside]
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 10:12 AM PST - 339 comments

Game designer and art director Daniel Solis has been sharing the results of his experiments with machine learning algorithms that can be trained to generate art: Generated covers for The Ultimate Board Game were fun, as were his collection of impossible birds (shared previously). His latest: These New Yorker Cartoons Do Not Exist--new cartoons generated based on a data set of old cartoons from the magazine.
posted by Inkslinger at 9:41 AM PST - 11 comments

How to Choose Your Perfume: A Conversation with Sianne Ngai and Anna Kornbluh (Jude Stewart for the Paris Review)
posted by box at 8:42 AM PST - 58 comments

It's nearing the end of March, and that means that Eurovision is less than two months away! Forty countries have submitted entries this year, in a wide range of styles and languages. Current hopefuls for the top spot include a Norwegian wolf in need of bananas, Latvian reminders to eat your veggies, artistic handwashing from Serbia, Finland's obligatory rock entry, Lithuanian sentimentality, Moldovans on a train, and perhaps the UK's best entry in years. [more inside]
posted by PearlRose at 8:35 AM PST - 30 comments

Inigo Quilez uses a single (extremely complex) math equation to draw an animated "Selfie Girl" in a graphics card shader program, and explains it all in a 25 minute video. [more inside]
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:28 AM PST - 5 comments

#PulpSabotage. Novelist Richard Kadrey with a thread of parody paperback titles.
posted by valkane at 6:28 AM PST - 13 comments

To Tell The Truth is a American panel TV show which has been around since 1956, in which three contestants, two of which are impostors of the third, attempt to convince a panel of judges of their identity. The archives of the show from 1956 to 1967 are available on YouTube, and provide a interesting and entertaining glimpse into what television game shows were like in the mid-50s.
posted by wesleyac at 4:03 AM PST - 33 comments