Victor Loux Bookmarks

A feed of interesting articles and websites I have recently read. Check out my newsletter for a digest of the best!

Brandy Jensen: "The Polycrisis"

yalereview.org/article/brandy-jensen-polycrisis
A review of Molly Roden Winter’s More: A Memoir of Open Marriage and Christopher Gleason’s American Poly: A History.

CCTV Footage Cross-Stitch

kottke.org/24/04/cctv-footage-cross-stitch
Oh man, I don’t think this could be any more in my wheelhouse: cross-stitch embroideries of CCTV camera images by Franci

Cow Magnets

stanfordmagnets.com/cow-magnets.html
Cow magnets are very popular with farmers, ranchers, and veterinarians since they are a well-known method of preventing hardware disease in cattle.

It's time to look back at SimCopter's digital himbo prank

avclub.com/simcopter-programmer-once-deployed-armies-of-digital-hi-1844132990
With social media discussing "himbos" this week, it's a good opportunity to revisit future The Yes Men activist Jacques Servin's SimCopter prank, which secretly placed armies of kissing bodybuilders into the 1996 game.

Scrabble: Mattel launches new version of game which is 'less competitive'

bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68769981
Mattel says the new board is designed to be accessible for those who find word games intimidating.

The (not so) subtle reason you hate chatbots

builtformars.com/case-studies/chatbots
Virtual agents, decision trees and ChatGPT-powered conversations aren't exactly the future of customer service that we were promised.

The unusual manner in which cicadas pee — and why the information is useful

npr.org/2024/03/19/1239528212/the-unusual-manner-in-which-cicadas-pee-and-why-the-information-is-useful
Little insects pee in droplets. But it turns out that cicadas pee in jets — and why and how they do it could help scientists better understand microfluidics and advance all kinds of technologies.