asides – pushing the sky

July 17, 2016

Predictions from the turn of the 20th century

This page of predictions from 1901 about what the world will look like in 2001 is remarkably prescient in some ways, and highly amusing in others.

Photographs will be telegraphed from any distance. If there is a battle in China a hundred years hence, snapshots of its most striking events will be published in newspapers one hour later.

Store Purchases by tube. Pneumatic tubes, instead of store wagons, will deliver packages & bundles.

Makes you wonder which of the futurists today are getting things right and which they’re getting wildly wrong.

July 14, 2016

Taylor Swift: Master Manipulator

When did you first realise Taylor Swift was lying to you?

Bill Simmons: I knew Taylor Swift was lying to me once she established that she didn’t have a type. Everyone has a type. Everyone. Every single person who ever lived. Maybe you drift away from that type once or twice over eight years, but not consistently. Taylor Swift has dated older guys, MUCH older guys, younger guys, masculine guys, not so masculine guys, damaged guys, innocent guys, rich guys, struggling actors, famous actors, virginal guys, lotharios … there’s just no rhyme or reason to these picks (well, except they’re all white). She picks boyfriends like someone would fill positions on their fantasy team.

Well, colour me naive, but this has been a bit of an eye-opener. Goddammit Tay.

May 6, 2016

A Blind Mind’s Eye

Blake Ross can’t visualise things like others:

I have never visualized anything in my entire life. I can’t “see” my father’s face or a bouncing blue ball, my childhood bedroom or the run I went on ten minutes ago. I thought “counting sheep” was a metaphor. I’m 30 years old and I never knew a human could do any of this. And it is blowing my goddamned mind.

My first thought was “yeah I’m pretty bad a these things too,” but then I kept reading, and I realised how much I do visualise in my “mind’s eye” that just seems alien to those with this same condition.

October 3, 2015December 21, 2015

iPhone Photography

Beautifully presented comparison of the photographic capabilities of every iPhone to date

Still love the colours/textures from the 3GS there – was a big step up for phone photography all those years ago.

July 9, 2015July 9, 2015

Map of Network attacks

Interesting – or possibly scary – real-time map of attacks over the internet, with source and destination where known. May be state or non-state actors, only shows the ones these guys can see, so there’s likely more out there.. The world’s going to hell in a hand basket, we just don’t realise this stuff is happening.

June 11, 2015

Photos from the Cosmodrome

A collection of photos from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, including the Buran shuttle from the Russian space program that never flew.

Only mildly disappointed that the outside doesn’t look like Destiny.

May 23, 2015January 23, 2017

Snowflakes growing

May 5, 2015

Antarctica, from the air

April 28, 2015

Lego Car!

March 26, 2015

Our Pluto

The New Horizons space probe is about to reach Pluto to take high resolution photos of the surface, and there’s a public vote page to select a list of names for the features on its surface.

Fantastic effort and should be interesting, but I’d just point out the time at which New Horizons was launched, Pluto was still a planet. STILL A PLANET, GENTLEMEN!