Winding Down
An idiosyncratic look at, and comment on, the week's net, technology, science and other news
by Alan Lenton
18 April 2021
Very short this week – just some URLs pointing to interesting material. I have a family member in hospital, and I’m feeling the side effects my second Covid-19 jab yesterday. Nothing too bad, it’s like the reaction I used to have to flu shots, but it makes it difficult to concentrate. Everything should be OK by next week, when normal service will (hopefully) be resumed.
In the meantime, thanks to those of you who pointed out that I’d given the wrong URL for one of the pictures last week. I’m sorry – I won’t do it again, honest...
Have fun and stay safe,
Alan Lenton
Publishing schedule: Next issue 25 April (I hope)
Credits: Thanks to readers Fi, Barb and Stephen for drawing my attention to material for Winding Down.
Pictures:
The Shape of the Water
https://photocontest.smithsonianmag.com/photocontest/detail/the-shape-of-the-water/
The incredible overall winners of the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards
https://newatlas.com/photography/overall-winners-2021-sony-world-photography-awards-gallery/
Scanner:
Airline software super-bug: Flight loads miscalculated because women using ‘Miss’ were treated as children
https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/08/tui_software_mistake/
Exploring the impact of broader impact requirements for AI governance
https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-exploring-impact-broader-requirements-ai.html
Eye tracking can reveal an unbelievable amount of information about you
https://newatlas.com/science/science/eye-tracking-privacy/
China requires ‘self-correction’ of monopolistic behaviour by 34 local web giants
https://www.theregister.com/2021/04/14/china_34_web_platform_crackdown/
The first bomb disposal expert: Colonel Vivian Majendie and the original ‘war on terror’
https://theconversation.com/the-first-bomb-disposal-expert-colonel-vivian-majendie-and-the-original-war-on-terror-156085
This London building tells the story of a century’s worth of disease and epidemics
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/hackney-smallpox-disinfecting-station-180977238/
Landmark study finds link between playing video games and well-being
https://newatlas.com/health-wellbeing/oxford-video-games-well-being/
Achtung Tesla! German automakers try to compete with Elon Musk
https://worldcrunch.com/business-finance/achtung-tesla-german-automakers-try-to-compete-with-elon-musk
Footnote:
Please send suggestions for stories to alan@ibgames.com and include the words Winding Down in the subject line, unless you want your deathless prose gobbled up by my voracious Thunderbird spam filter...
Alan Lenton
alan@ibgames.com
18 April 2021
Alan Lenton is a retired on-line games designer, programmer and sociologist, the order of which depends on what he is currently working on! His web site is at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/index.html.
Past issues of Winding Down can be found at http://www.ibgames.net/alan/winding/index.html.
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