Alexander Savin

Eng/Ru
01 Mar 2015

Worthy stuff to watch and read - 26

Read

  • Understanding the Enigma machine with 30 lines of Ruby. Practical implementation of the algorithm that was exploited and (cleverly) brootforced by GCHQ and Alan Turing during WWII.
  • How crazy am I to think I actually know where that Malaysia Airlines plane is? Long read by Jeff Wise, revisiting mistery of MH370 flight, tracking airplane with Inmarsat satellites, and a theory how thing could end up.
  • Proof That Oscar Voters Are Clueless About Animation (and many other things).

In this world, a voter would identify the Irish film Song of the Sea and the Japanese film The Tale of The Princess Kaguya as “Chinese fuckin’ things,” not watch either film, and still cast a vote for the best animated feature of the year.

  • How an industrial designer became Apple’s greatest product - (very) long read on Jony Ive's side of story.

I asked Ive about the slightly protruding camera lens that prevents the iPhone 6 from resting comfortably on its back. Ive referred to that decision — without which the phone would be slightly thicker — as “a really very pragmatic optimization.” One had to guess at the drama behind the phrase. “And, yeah...” he said.

Watch

  • Analog alternatives of Photoshop tools like gradient exposure, dodge and burn when processing film in darkroom
  • Composing music in VR with Ableton Live, Oculus Rift and Hydra gloves
  • Citizenfour - Oscar winning documentary available for few more days on 4OD

Listen

  • Fresh episode of Tim Ferriss show with Justin Boreta of Glitch Mob electronic band. I got hooked to Glitch Mob after this fan made teaser of Tron: Legacy (which quickly became official teaser later).
  • Special version of the latest Glitch Mob album Love Death Immortality with commentaries for each track.

Personal notes

  • Last year UK approved a new revision of law where it is now ok to rip CD:s, DVD:s, Bluray:s for your personal use, as long as you own the actual media. Afaik this is still illegal in most EU countries including Finland. We have a projector at home, which I usually hook to Macbook for streaming films to the wall. Problem is that Apple no longer considers Blurays a worthy media to support, while at the same time you can get boxsets from Amazon with huge discounts. Solution? Buy a disc, rip it on PC, copy it to Macbook and watch it on a big screen in full quality. And own a disc.