Inside All Four Rolex Manufacturing Facilities - This is from a watch-enthusiast/collector blog. It’s a very nice and engaging history of Rolex as well as a tour of its manufacturing facilities. Great pictures as well.
Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich - Exactly this. If you are rich and have time, why not prepare for nuclear armageddon, or for earthquakes, or what not. Interestingly, the piece also says that such thinking among Silicon Valley forerunners is not to be unexpected, because their detailed speculation of the future is what got their ventures and companies to be successful in the first place.
A World Without Work - I was confused about the concept of basic income for everyone, and happened to stumble upon this very detailed Atlantic piece from a while ago which talks about the current work-situation. The whole culture of work has changed so dramatically, and we are in a technology-infested, leisure-time-filled world now. Where do the signs point to now? It’s long and divided into multiple parts, but it’s an instructive read.
Why We Should All Have a Basic Income - Couple with the previous piece; this one puts forth a case for Universal Basic Income, and why it’s good for the economy. This is something that would never have gained traction in earlier eras/centuries. Only in the technological age with many menial jobs being eradicated does this start becoming relevant.
The Deep Magic of Mexico - Ana Arana talks about a period of 18 months that she spent with a healer in Mexico. This is quite nice.
Are Fantasy Sports Really Gambling? - Fantasy sports are something that I’ve tried sometimes, and seen many of my friends play. This is a nice piece about fantasy sports in the US. Fantasy sports are banned in some states in the US, and may just be banned in other states in the near future. Why? Because they are getting close to becoming avenues for gambling.
El Chapo and the Secret History of the Heroin Crisis - First off, alert. This article has more than a fair share of expletives. That’s because it is an impassioned piece about the Heroin crisis in the US, and what caused it. Mexican cartels are behind it, of course, but what sparked off the chain leading to so many overdose-related deaths and the addiction of millions is the legalisation of marijuana. Who would’ve thought?
The Eye In The Sky Gets A Brain That Knows What It’s Seeing - I haven’t been meaning to, but I’m sharing a lot of tidbits about artificial intelligence and big data-related fields lately. That’s because they’re the technologies that will shape our lives and lifestyles most in the years to come. This one is about tools that make sense of satellite imagery data and convert them into usable, catalogued maps that government agencies, aid groups etc. can use.
The Case for Defeating Death - Life expectancy has been steadily increasing, but can we expect it to further rise? So far it has been due to reduced child mortality, vaccination and other measures that have prevented early deaths. To me, the question is not how, but why. Why would we want to increase human lifespans? That’s probably a question for another day (another week, more like) and in the meantime, enjoy this one about the technologies we have, and the ones we need, to extend lifespans/defeat death.
