In-flight movies, pasta science, and a meowccordion.

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13th January 2025

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Heads up! This newsletter is more than 10 months old. Links may be out of date or lead to unexpected places, or the context may have changed. Please handle with care.

Hello!

I've been spending the last few days out on the road for a project I can't talk about just yet. But nevertheless, the newsletter must go on!

First, this week's Lateral, which should be available as video and audio on the Spotify app, in audio on all podcast apps, and ad-free on Spotify Premium. Karen Kavett, Francis Heaney and Sam Meeps face questions about corporate coincidences, language lapses and overfamiliar organists!

I have had much time to look at YouTube this week, but I think you'll enjoy:

I've linked to Steven Bridges' card-counting videos before, but the last in his most recent series is fascinating (some strong language): for summing up the story, for a very bold strategy, for the conversation on gambling addiction and the responsibility that casinos have. But it's also a joy to watch, particularly the last sequence: "revenge on Vegas" isn't a clickbait title.
Simply Aviation go behind-the-scenes at a company that provides in-flight entertainment: how the movies go from the studios to the back of a plane seat. There are still some airlines out there that run their movies on tapes.

Other interesting links I've found this week, from around the rest of the web:

The phase behavior of cacio e pepe sauce should absolutely be in the running for this year's Ig Nobel Prizes: an in-depth scientific investigation that sounds tongue-in-cheek. Cooking YouTube channels: there is absolutely a video in adapting this paper, and its Creative Commons license will let you do that as long as you give them proper attribution! Also, here's a good behind-the-scenes Bluesky thread (and summary) from one of the authors.
Biocubes is an interesting visualisation of the weight of everything on Earth, comparing nature and technology. It perhaps puts style above substance a little bit: arguably, the three static-image posters available for download do a better job of conveying the numbers. And did it really need its own domain name, with the regular cost and upkeep required? Those minor grumbles aside: it's a good visualisation! It's worth playing through!
A very small percentage of this newsletter's audience will have struggled with QBasic in the early 90s like I did, and therefore hopefully find this as impressive as I did: Anzu Castle Gracula. A full, 90s-style, side-scroller video game made in QBasic's slightly more powerful predecessor QuickBasic. Am I any good at the game? No, it took me three minutes to work out how to climb the stairs and then I died on the next screen. I know very little about video games. But I do remember Basic and I am stunned that anything like this is possible. The full source code is available! A quick search reveals that it's not the only impressive game built in the language. In hindsight, of course there'll always be a small group of people building things like this with obscure technology... but this is the first time I've heard about it.

And finally, over on TikTok: a meowccordion.

All the best,

— Tom

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