It’s Sunday, right?
No?
Well it’s PRACTICALLY Sunday. Here in sunny, snowy Ontario it’s Family Day, which means my students are off doing something other than school and the tiny people here are playing house. That’s right, folks–a long weekend. And here’s something to fill a) your holiday with some compelling stuff or b) to give your brain a break when you’re stuck at work.
Giant LEGO X-Wing Might Be The Coolest LEGO Set Ever Made – Luke Plunkett, Kotaku
I had to lead with this because of my recent foray back into LEGO. This update to the old Ultimate Collectors’ Series X-Wing is a 1558-piece masterpiece and is nearly two feet long. It’s a little rich for my blood–looks like it’ll hit about $200 at launch–but the kit is wonderful. It doesn’t churn me up like this UCS B-Wing, but it’s still beautiful. Read More
I’m Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. AMA – Bill Gates via reddit.com
Since leaving Microsoft, Bill Gates has launched full-bore into philanthropy. Between combating polio globally and working to better education in the United States and abroad, there’s no shortage of work to be done. And Bill recently took to Reddit to talk about his time at Microsoft, his philanthropy, the Foundation, the future of computing, vaccines, and why he used to jump over chairs. Seriously, that’s a question that someone asks and he answers. Read More
John E. Karlin, 1918-2013 – Margalit Fox, The New York Times
Ever wonder how we end up with the technology we end up with? It’s thanks to a few special individuals, really, and I can’t think of a better example than John Karlin. As a researcher at Bell Labs, he was behind the rotary dial and the telephone keypad, the seven-digit phone number and the length of telephone cords. He was a doctor of mathematical psychology and employed it alongside his engineering savvy to test a limitless series of permutations of the kinds of technology we take for granted today. He was a visionary who invented what people never knew they needed and used rigorous study to find the best way to deploy it–a sort of Steve Jobs by way of Google, if you will. Karlin passed away on January 28, 2013. Read More
One Day Builds: Adam Savage Makes a Blade Runner Carrying Case – Joey Famelli, Tested.com
I’ve already spoken about building and Tested.com in past editions of Sunday Reading, but this video is a distillation of all of that. Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame is an absolute nut for Blade Runner and has scratch-built a screen-accurate replica of the gun Harrison Ford uses in the movie. In order to properly display and transport it, he needs a carrying case. And he builds one in the course of just one day. It’s a great video and a beautiful build. Read More
Thanks for reading, folks! As always, if you have suggestions for Sunday Reading, let us know by email us at sunday@spillway.ca or tweet us @spillwayca!
Paddle your own canoe,
Trevor
