Delayed by a day, but, scrambled and read a chunk of my backlog to put this together for the week.
As always, all links on this newsletter can be found here.
History, Culture, and Religion
Why CAPTCHA Pictures Are So Unbearably Depressing | by Clive Thompson | OneZero
Part of it is the sheer hassle of repeatedly identifying objects — traffic lights, staircases, palm trees and buses — just so I can finish a web search. I also don’t like being forced to donate free…
The death of intimacy - UnHerd
Sex positivity has created a cult of celibacy
Secular Superstitions: Why Unfalsifiable Narratives Are Harmful - Areo
Is diamond harder than steel? Does 2 + 2 = 4? Sure. But there are some statements that we can’t evaluate as either true or false. Some of them are…View Post
To understand what love is, read the stories that history tells | Aeon Essays
Neither psychology nor anthropology fully understand love: only history sees that it’s all about the time and the telling
’I felt true emptiness’: A hidden loneliness crisis is haunting Italy | Euronews
The harrowing story of how an elderly woman’s body was left undiscovered for two years sparked a debate in Italy about loneliness.
Meet the “artist living in a browser” | Product Hunt
A CAPTCHA that filters out humans. An app for deepfaking yourself. Damjanski’s artwork delights and intrigues at the intersection of art, culture, and the internet. Here’s what he’s diving into now.
Tech, Science, and Math
Exclusive: Austrian Programmer And Ex Crypto CEO Likely Stole $11 Billion Of Ether
Who hacked The DAO in 2016, diverting 3.6 million ether? We identify the apparent hacker — he denies it — by following a complicated trail of crypto transactions and using a previously undisclosed privacy-cracking forensics tool.
THANK GOD FOR THE INDIA STACK - by Anil Padmanabhan
Shutting access to apps in the aftermath of sanctions against Russia holds a mirror to the strategic risks of dependency on foreign tech providers. EPISODE #63
The metaverse will steal your identity - UnHerd
Individuality will dissolve into mindless conformity
When the GUI was destroying the art of writing - Big Think
A GUI is how most of us interact with computers, from iPhones to laptops. But they were once condemned as destroying the art of writing.
The Uncanny Valley of Xenobots - Nautilus | Science Connected
These tiny living robots can now replicate and evolve—and be put to work.
Oliver Milman says ‘The Insect Crisis’ is bad news for humans, too : Goats and Soda : NPR
Environmental writer Oliver Milman says habitat loss, pesticides and climate change are killing off insects worldwide, which, in turn, threatens humans. His new book is The Insect Crisis.
Everything else
I Look For the Weirdest and Wildest Things on Wikipedia. Here’s What I’ve Learned.
From a tortoise that saved his species by having lots of sex to killings attributed to a Frank Sinatra song, “Depths of Wikipedia” digs up the most bizarre Wiki facts.
Wealthy Venezuelans Are Building Mansions in a National Park - Bloomberg
President Nicolas Maduro is proposing taking over protected land and turning small towns into the nation’s first “communal city.”
How Telegram Became the Anti-Facebook | WIRED
Hundreds of millions of users. No algorithm. No ads. Courage in the face of autocracy. Sound like a dream? Careful what you wish for.
If Russian Currency Reserves Aren’t Really Money, the World Is in for a Shock - WSJ
Sanctions have shown that currency reserves accumulated by central banks can be taken away. With China taking note, this may reshape geopolitics, economic management and even the international role of the U.S. dollar.
Book
Nationalism by Rabindranath Tagore | Goodreads
Read reviews from the world’s largest community for readers. undefined
Perfect read for right now.
Thank you for reading
That’s all I have for this week.
Do subscribe if interested and do reply with interesting stuff
Sainath