Howdy doody there folks – thought it was about time to post a mini update, as it’s been a while since our last contact.
I’ve been pretty busy with that dirty little word we call work which, alongside penning some slightly longer bloomsoup articles, means I haven’t shipped much material.
So today is a short bout of interestingness. Firstly, we venture into the world of sci-fi.
Children of Ruin
After downloading Adrian Tchaikovsky’s first book in his new series (Children of Time), largely by accident, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was blooming marvellous.
Since then I’ve eagerly awaited his follow up, Children of Ruin. And when I was all ready to whip out the old credit card, I only went and discovered a copy in the local public library, didn’t I? Ahhh libraries, you gotta love ’em.
Anyway, this book picks up and precedes the thread (insider pun alert) of the original story and even though I’m only halfway through, I’m thoroughly enjoying the novel.
Like the previous book, Tchaikovsky uses the narrative as a vehicle to discuss a range of contemporary issues, from genetic engineering to gender roles and human hubris.
I’d obviously recommend picking up a copy of the first instalment and getting stuck in.
Scary sci-fi
Continuing the sci-fi theme, Boston Dynamics are at it again, trying to take over the world Pinky and the Brain style.
The video below shows just how capable and disturbingly lifelike they’ve made the movements of their robots.
This one demonstrates a gymnastics routine, complete with forward rolls, split jump and full twist 360, which erm…I can’t even do.
And that little flourish at the end. That made me shudder.
What will be next, ice cream serving robots? Oh, wait…
Octopus
Look what I found – a video of a sleeping octopus!
That alone will probably cheer you up. But even more awesome is the fact that she changes colour in response to what might well be a dream.
Do androids dream of electric sheep? I’m not sure, but perhaps octopi dream of catching crabs.
These disco lights are a fascinating display of just how versatile these amazing creatures are.
Easter eggs
I recently learned through the Recomendo newsletter that there’s an easter egg in Google Maps. Say whaaaaaaat?! I know right.
Ever been to foreign lands and got completely lost because your phone isn’t working? Or has reception failed just when you desperately need to get to that meeting?
Well, now you can simply type ‘ok maps’ into the search bar, which creates an expandable, downable area of your destination for lots of offline map fun. Yay!
what3words
When I was waxing lyrical on the above, my mother told me about another mind-bending location-finder called what3words, an organisation which has divided the entire world up into three-metre squares, all identifiable via unique (you guessed it) three-word combinations that will never change.
That’s a lot of weird words.
Apparently, “///filled.count.soap marks the exact entrance to what3words’ London headquarters.”
Many organisations, like the ambulance service, have adopted it, when finding the precise location of an accident could mean the difference between life and death.
However, according to the company, the words can also be used for tasks like finding tents at festivals and navigating to B&Bs.
Well, that’s it for this broth – if you’d like to bounce some ideas around/work together/send me an interesting octopus video, hit me up here.
