Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Feminist art, a waterproof iPhone, what Hunter S. Thompson stole from Hemingway and more in our look at the web
1. The Brooklyn Museum Announces a Year of Feminist Exhibitions
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, the Brooklyn Museum has announced it’s launching a year of feminist exhibitions. According to Bullett, “Despite years of being forcefully written out of culture and art history, women have used feminism to make an indelible mark.” Launching this fall, “A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism at the Brooklyn Museum” will feature some 10 shows—including artists such as Beverly Buchanan, Marilyn Minter, Julie Dash and more—and not only focus on the role feminism has played in the art world, but how it will continue in the future.
2. iPhone 7 Might Be Waterproof
No more buying a new phone if you drop it in a puddle (or worse, a toilet) as according to reports, the iPhone 7 might be waterproof. According to Quartz the rumors are due to a recently acquired patent by Apple, “The patent, granted this week and first uncovered by Patently Apple, outlines a system for color-balancing photos shot underwater.” One idea about how they’ll be doing this is by removing the headphone jack—a controversial move. Head to Quartz to find out more.
3. Buzz Aldrin’s Designing an Omega Watch for Mars Travel
With all the information we have right now coming from one tweet, it appears that former astronaut Buzz Aldrin has begun to design a watch for Omega—that will be worn on the wrists of astronauts heading to Mars. Aldrin was the first person to wear a watch on the moon, and it was in fact an Omega Speedmaster. The tweet was accompanied by the hashtag #GYATM, which the team at HODINKEE discovered translates to “Get Your Ass To Mars.” As they make clear, this is big news for space nerds, but also watch nerds who can now expect a new Speedmaster designed by a legend.
4. Stranger Things Font Generator
Since everybody has been (understandably) freaking out about Netflix show “Stranger Things” and its excellent opening credits, it makes sense that the internet has lost it for this “Stranger Things” font generator. Self-explanatory and too easy to use, the generator makes any two words you choose in the show’s font. Whether you choose to type your own name, Barbara Holland or something nonsensical, it’s a fun few seconds.
5. Erotic Shapeshifting Dots
In the recently released music video for Aeternam Vale & Kerri LeBon “Hiding Love,” director denial.of.service presents an almost NSFW display of shifting dots. These dots, quite clearly, seem to be digitized scenes of found porn footage. The method reflects that of Robert Hodgin’s experiments in digital stippling, but as the Creator’s Project points out: this is more experimental and abstract. That said, the main takeaway is the video’s seductive eroticism.
6. Hunter S. Thompson’s Wife Returns Antlers Stolen From Hemingway
Even after both their deaths, writers Hunter S. Thompson and Ernest Hemingway are full of surprises. This week, Thompson’s wife returned elk antlers that her late husband stole from Hemingway’s house way back in 1964. Thompson, who was apparently there to write about Hemingway’s suicide just three years prior—left the home, taking the large souvenir with him. The antlers are being given to Hemingway’s grandson.
7. Island Fox Taken Off Endangered List
There’s not a lot of positive environmental news, so it’s heart-warming to find out that after a devastating 90% population loss, a Californian island fox has made a huge comeback—so much so that’s it’s been taken off the endangered list. One of the USA’s most rare animals, the island fox suffered in the ’90s due to a viral disease and use of the pesticide DDT which “wiped out bald eagles on the islands. Golden eagles, which prey on the foxes, quickly replaced the fish-loving bald eagles, leading to numerous fox deaths.” This has been the fastest turnaround for an endangered mammal in the history of the Endangered Species Act—that’s 43 years. Read more at the Guardian.
8. Another Reason to Stop Peeing in Pools
Not only is it gross, peeing in the pool is bad for you. That well-known, nostalgic pool smell is actually caused by disinfection byproducts (aka DBPs) which are created when urine mixes with regular disinfectants used in pools. These DBPs—namely “cyanogen chloride, chloroform, dichloramine, trichloramine and bromoform”—can (and do) cause “irritation to the skin, eyes and respiratory tract, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Yet another good reason to stop peeing in the pool.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
