Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Lego Simpsons, Earth’s new twin planet, a 13-year-old eagle huntress and more in our weekly look at the web
1. Vein$
Fingerprints aren’t the most secure passwordas any decent crime film shows, you leave them everywhere. Vein geometry, however, has been shown to be just as unique as fingerprintseven differing in twinsand could be a safer alternative. Palm-vein scanners have already been produced, and even integrated in laptops; the future has already arrived at Sweden’s Lund University, where a student has developed a vein pattern payment system in stores and eateries. Forgot your phone or wallet at home? Just stick out your wrist and get it scanned.
2. Earth Twin
NASA’s Kepler planet-finding mission kept track of over 150,000 stars in search of a world that might just be like Earth. Its recently shared discovery, the planet Kepler 186f, happens to be exactly that. A little bigger and a little cooler, the planet falls in the “Goldilocks zone” of stellar orbit, meaning that under the right circumstances, not only will it have liquid water, but it’s potentially habitable. At 500 light-years away, scientists are speculating on the exact conditions to the best of their ability. But of the 962 confirmed planets found during this mission, Kepler 186f truly stands out.
3. The Imaginary Records of Famed Footballers
Athletes’ forays into music have a dubious history. From Shaq’s shameful rap album to the unquestionably soulful jazz of classically trained guitarist and Yankee switch-hitter Bernie Williams, the colorful characteristics brought out in the heat of the game don’t always translate in the studio. NY-based graphic artist James Taylor channeled the on-field personalities of the world’s most famous footballersfrom Pel to David Beckhamfor a series of imaginary record covers that translate their pitch performance to a corresponding music styleranging from sunny Brazilian Bossa Nova to the mania-inducing Brit pop of the Beatles to moody French new wave la Zinedine Zidane.
4. In Photos: A 13-year-old Eagle Huntress
Western Mongolia is the only place in the world where golden eaglestaken from their nests as eaglets and carefully trainedare used to hunt hares and small game in the rugged, arid terrain. While documenting the coming-of-age process of 13-year-old boys learning the esteemed practice, photographer Asher Svidensky met Ashol-Pan, perhaps the region and the world’s only eagle huntress apprentice. Svidensky’s photos are inspiring on many levels. From the astounding beauty of the Mongolian landscape, to Ashol-Pan’s unfettered joy, concentration and bond with her hunting partner, these photos are a must-see as they illustrate the breadth of humanity as well as shifting gender norms in a place that appears removed from history.
5. Tom of Finland Stamps
On the heels of a retrospective at MoCA Los Angeles comes a smaller celebration of Finnish artist Tom of Finland. Responsible for inspiring the style of Freddie Mercury and the Village People, the internationally known, post-war artist is greatly admired for his progressive works surrounding homoeroticism. Now residents in Finland can pay tribute with a set of stamps, which will surely add an expressive touch to mail sent from the Nordic country when they’re released this fall.
6. 10 Best Mobile Games of PAX East 2014
As we further our attachment to mobile devices, the world of app video games expands in turn. It’s becoming an exciting sphere to monitorparticularly for the advancement in graphics. Tech site Evolve hit up the recent Pax East convention and highlights the top 10 mobile games they found there, which span titles from “Hitman Go” to “The Phantom Pi” and “World Zombination.”
7. The Simpsons Lego Minifigures
The much-rumored and highly anticipated Simspons’ LEGO minifigs have finally been revealed. All 16 characters, including Itchy and Scratchy, are fully detailed and accessorizedand vastly superior to the last Lego Simpsons offering. They won’t be on shelves until the Lego episode of “The Simpsons” on 4 May, when each will then retail for $4.
8. Coffee, Cameras and a Cafe
About 40 miles outside of Seoul, you won’t find a Starbucks but a caf shaped like a vintage Rolleiflex twin-lens camera. Named The Dreaming Camera, it wasn’t built to be a tourist attraction or even a regular coffee shopinstead the Korean couple who own it wanted to share their love for photography, but even more importantly, inspire visitors to realize their own goals. Their current method is to take Polaroids of customers and ask them to write down their personal dreams, a poetic way to get them to pay attention to their own hearts.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily on Twitter and published weekly every Saturday morning.
