Thank goodness there's another Bank Holiday next week; I'm really not enthused by this working-on-Monday malarkey 
Happy invoicing!
- The nurse imposter - ”Brigitte Cleroux faked her credentials and treated hundreds of patients across Canada. Why did no one stop her?” She wasn't even any good at it, so how on earth did she get away with it for thirty years?
- Which Computational Universe Do We Live In? - ”Cryptographers want to know which of five possible worlds we inhabit, which will reveal whether truly secure cryptography is even possible.” Interesting look at the concepts around provably hard cryptography, originally described by mathematician Russell Impagliazzo in 1995.
- Bear-Dar Warns of Approaching Polar Bears - ”Researchers are developing an artificial intelligence–powered radar system to reduce polar bear-human conflicts.” Always handy to know when the huge predators with claws are coming
- Whips and Chains - Jamie Fewery revisits his days working on a publishing phenomenon: ”Back in February 2012, when I was a newly minted marketing executive at Random House, I was asked into a meeting to discuss the potential acquisition of a self-published trilogy of erotic novels… Initially, I wasn’t convinced. There were so many things about Fifty Shades of Grey that made it feel like a book we could never sell. The reply to my various concerns was brief: ‘It’s sold 100,000 copies already.’”
- Tarot Reader - A straightforward three-card tarot spread app, should you be wondering what the future might hold
- Where Is Halley’s Comet? Why 1986’s ‘Giant Snowball’ Will Cause Streaks Of Light This Month And When We Will See It Return - ”Halley’s Comet is the most famous comet of all. It measures nine miles by five miles/15 km by 8 km wide… But why is it suddenly in the news? It’s because of what it left in the solar system last time it was here.” Cool meteors coming
- Leonardo da Vinci: The Military Engineer - Leonardo reckoned he was good at war stuff: ”Most Illustrious Lord, Having now sufficiently considered the specimens of all those who proclaim themselves skilled contrivers of instruments of war, and that the invention and operation of the said instruments are nothing different from those in common use: I shall endeavor, without prejudice to any one else, to explain myself to your Excellency, showing your Lordship my secret, and then offering them to your best pleasure and approbation to work with effect at opportune moments on all those things which, in part, shall be briefly noted below.”
- Life Advice from NYC Chess Hustlers - Anne Kadet talks to the people who make a living playing chess with all comers: ”The chess tables in Washington Square Park’s southwest corner have been occupied by a revolving cast of hustlers for more than 80 years… I was curious if these fellows had any life advice. After all, you can’t be hustling chess in a public park for decades without forming some conclusions about what makes people tick.”
- The digital ranging system that measured the distance to the Apollo spacecraft - Ken Shirriff with another piece of hardware from Apollo: ”The main problem is that due to the extreme distance to the spacecraft, a radar-like return pulse would be too weak. The ranging system solved this in two ways. First, a complex transponder on the spacecraft sent back an amplified signal. Second, instead of sending a pulse, the system transmitted a long pseudorandom bit sequence. By correlating this sequence over multiple seconds, a weak signal could be extracted from the noise.”
- The National Geographic Photo Ark - ”…is a multiyear effort to document every species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries, inspire action through education, and help save wildlife by supporting on-the-ground conservation efforts.” This cotton-top tamarin lives in Bloomington, Illinois
Happy invoicing!
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