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

• 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.
   

• 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