Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Revealing Banksy's indentity, NASA's new invention, the darkest pigment in the world and more in our look at the web

1. Banksy’s True Identity Using a technique called “geographic profiling”—which is mostly used to catch serial criminals—scientists at Queen Mary University of London claim to have discovered the true identity of the infamous street artist Banksy. After building a geoprofile from the locations of 140 of Bansky’s suspected artworks, the team was able to pinpoint different “hot spots” all strongly linked to one individual: Robin …

The Story of Emoji

Gavin Lucas explores the history of the tiny picture phenomenon

As a former senior writer at Creative Review and the co-founder of London-based illustration agency Outline Artists (and CH contributor), Gavin Lucas’ professional career bridges communication and illustration. That combination makes him well-suited for his latest project: the new book “The Story of Emoji.” The thoroughly-researched, entertaining tome traces the history of everyone’s favorite communication enhancer, looking at early predecessors, like typeset ornaments, through to …

The Internet Killed Playboy

While humans are no less interested in porn, the ways in which we consume it have killed the “lads mags” of yesteryear. Playboy has suspended use of nudity and Penthouse has folded its print iteration, all because we are just a few clicks away from anything we want. HighSnobiety explores the changing landscape, in which “90% of all of the data that the human race …