Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Redesigning the Pride Flag, searching space, making the marijuana industry non-profit and more
1. A Pride Flag Incorporating LGBTQ+ People of Color
First unfurled at a Pride Month launch celebration in Philadelphia, a new rainbow flag aims to recognize the POC members of the LGBTQ+ community. Part of the “More Color More Pride” campaign, the flag calls to attention—and embraces—the diversity within the already marginalized queer world. A testament to intersectionality, the pride flag’s value lies in its powerful, inclusive statement. The addition of black and brown stripes above the rest of the rainbow affirms that the often overlooked people of color in the movement are represented.
2. Airbnb + Go Hasegawa’s Cedar House in Yoshino, Japan
In Japan’s Nara prefecture, the rural town of Yoshino now plays host to a community-run Cedar House, available on Airbnb. Designed by the accommodation service’s studio (known as Samara) and Tokyo-based architect Go Hasegawa, the building was constructed by local foresters, woodcutters and carpenters. And while the townspeople have been integral in its development, all of the wood was sustainably sourced and milled locally. The project’s mission was to preserve the town’s cultural traditions and it acts first and foremost as a shared space for the community. It’s also stunning in its clean, minimal design.
3. Palm-Sized Portable Printer
Everyone has found themselves in a situation where they can’t access a printer—or connect to it. With the ZUtA Labs’ portable robotic printer, available for pre-order now at $299, this ceases to be a problem. The palm-sized WiFi-connected printer aligns itself with a standard sheet of paper, receives instruction from a smartphone, and then tracks across the page, printing out words and images. It does take a minute to print page (or a bit more), but the battery lasts for an hour of constant use. Watch a video of the ZUtA at work on Mashable.
4. Bitlens Studio + Anomaly‘s Sleek Concept Camping Pod
Complete with a living space, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, a camping pod concept designed by Fabian Mazzola of Bitlens Studio and advertising agency Anomaly draws its aesthetic inspiration from MINI Cooper’s F60 Countryman. More than a sleek structure, the pod’s proposal includes weather-resistant material allowing for use in various climates. It’s also self-sustainable—as one hopes from future products. See more images at designboom.
5. Hubble’s New Galactic Finds
10,000 times more luminous than our Milky Way, a series of the universe’s “brightest infrared galaxies” have been captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Using a natural phenomenon called gravitation lensing, the galactic imagery has been magnified to “reveal a tangled web of misshapen objects punctuated by exotic patterns, such as rings and arcs,” according to NASA. What’s even more curious about the shapes: speculating leads scientists to believe that may have been produced by way of an astronomical collision of massive but distant smaller galaxies. Head over to the Huffington Post to view more photos of the ultra-luminous starbursts.
6. Eero’s New Router System Aims to Protect Home Networks
Eero has just released their outlet-occupying Beacon router, as well as a new mesh networking router that runs twice as fast as the last generation. While the Beacon’s a fun concept that frees up space and offers a built-in nightlight, it’s the software Eero has installed in the new products that really appeals. These routers can now secure all connected devices on a home network. The Eeros employ Google’s Thread System. According to Wired, this allows them “to connect to smart locks, doorbells, and other connected gadgets.” By upgrading to Eero Plus for $10 a month, the routers also offer “enhanced parental controls, better support, and up-leveled security measures that Eero says can protect you from viruses, malware, and even phishing attacks and ransomware.”
7. Marijuana as a Non-Profit Industry
No longer a question of if, it’s really a matter of when the US—like Canada—will legalize recreational marijuana use. As producers in states that have already embraced the bud can attest to, a commercial endeavor in the weed industry leads to competition, marketing and more. To prevent that from getting out of hand (in Canada) medical researcher Francois Gagnon has proposed a unique idea: “delete the demand-driven profitability part of the equation by establishing a non-profit model for distribution” led by a universal agency, according to Fast Company. This solves everything from insuring standards to controlling overt advertising. You can read more of Gagnon’s plan at Fast Company.
8. New Zealand’s Hidden Eighth Wonder of the World
It is commonly believed—and supported by a five-year-study—that New Zealand’s naturally-forming pink and white terraces (once referred to as the eighth wonder of the world) were destroyed in 1886 when Mount Tarawera erupted. Volcanic ash filled Lake Rotomaha causing irreparable damage to silica sinter quartz formations. However, according to a recent announcement in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand by researchers Rex Bunn and Sascha Nolden, this might not be true. Using a field diary of cartographer Ferdinand von Hochstetter, from 1859, they’ve been able to more accurately place the terraces—and believe them to be 30 to 50 feet below the lake’s shore. It’s up to New Zealand’s Tuhuourangi tribal authority to decide whether or not to excavate some.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
