Sunday 28 June 2015

The Procrastinator (some) Times Sunday 28th of June Edition



Hello friends summer is officially here and with it many reasons to celebrate, being the most immediate one the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States of America of legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

Also in our News section we feature a Bloomberg article that explains the massiveness of the crisis in Venezuela with a small example: Why the iPhone 6 Costs $47,678 in Venezuela? In our Science & Technology section a group of scientists tricked some brains to demonstrate that they actually doesn't suck at passwords.

In our Design, Business & Innovation we share the story of the Californian woman, who developed an innovative phone app, that have helped to feed almost 600,000 homeless people. Also Nicola Kemp shares in Marketing Magazine the six trends that will define the next decade of social media, prepare to see a shift from unfettered narcissism globally (finally!) to a real source of empowerment. And Valerie Casey, CPO of Samsung's Global Innovation Center, explains why open platform is the future of the Internet of Things.

Our Culture & Entertainment section features articles from Open Culture and Critical Theory on how commuters in Moscow can download free eBooks of Russian classics in the Metro, how you can understand phenomenology thanks to the iconic Muppets song “Mahna Mahna,” (with English subtitles), and why the neuroscience in Pixar's Inside Out is surprisingly accurate.


Finally this edition of In Dog We Trust by La Guía del Perro shares with us the best dog related shows on TV, Rambo the puppy, and believe it or not, some flying dogs!

And as this weekend is all about pride, here's this shameless plug as Minimaps -our sister project- just turned 3 months and has released the gayest minimap so far: Folky, Colourful, Happy Ciudad de México, have a look.

Happy summery and meaningful procrastination (!) and see you all here in a month and remember to keep in touch in @Pro_Sometimes (a month is a long time, we will miss you!)


NEWS: US Supreme Court Legalizes Gay Marriage

Photo via The Big Picture.

This past Friday US Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling established same-sex marriage across all 50 states, ending two decades of litigation and making the United States the 23rd country where same-sex marriage is legal nationwide Here you can have a look at the celebrations across America via Boston Globe's Big Picture. E.T.P. 5'


Illustration via The New York Times.


The evolution of gay marriage, from a few states to a whole nation, a series of interesting infographics via The New York Times. E.T.P. 3'




Quartz makes an interest account of the countries where gay marriage is legal: 23 if you count the UK, where it is legal everywhere except Northern Ireland. "The Dutch parliament legalized gay marriage in the Netherlands back in 2000, but most of the other 19 countries have done so only in the last few years. Ireland in 2015 became the first country to legalize gay marriage through a popular vote." Have a look at the full list in Quartz. E.T.P. 2'


A huge rainbow flag makes its way along Oxford Street

The streets of London were awash with a rainbow of colour as thousands of people gathered for the annual Pride parade – the day after the US supreme court’s decision on gay marriage.
With the sun shining, revellers dressed up for the occasion – with some in dramatic costumes and even a dog was pictured sporting a multi-coloured coat.
The US flag joined Ireland and Mozambique’s at the front of the march, recognising recent gay rights progress in all three countries. Read Guardian article here E.T.P. 2'

NEWS: Why the iPhone 6 Costs $47,678 in Venezuela


Photo via The Procrastinator (some) Times.



Using as an example the iPhone6 this Bloomberg article explains one aspect of the economical crisis and some of the bizarre consequences of the exchange control in Venezuela. "Maria Veronica Fernandez went to eight stores in Caracas to add her name to a waiting list for a mobile phone she didn’t even like. After she was robbed of her Samsung Galaxy S4 phone at gunpoint in May, Fernandez, 24, embarked on a shopping quest much too familiar for Venezuelans, who live with the world’s highest inflation, chronic food shortages and rampant crime. “It’s the same feeling of helplessness as when you have to go to three or four supermarkets looking for toilet paper or oil or flour,” Fernandez said. After a few weeks’ wait, she bought a Samsung Galaxy Fame -- a less-sophisticated phone with fewer features. “At least if this one gets stolen, it won’t hurt as much.” Read full article in Bloomberg. E.T.P. 4'


Note: We added this article for the 09 July as it is a variation of the same theme: another deep economic plunge.

You might also like this other Bloomberg article about how the bolívar keeps collapsing: "Venezuela’s largest bank note of 100 bolivars is now worth about 16 U.S. cents on the black market, following a 33 percent plunge in the past month." "Bank of America Corp. said last month that the country’s annual inflation reached 108.1 percent in May." Read full article in Bloomberg. E.T.P. 2'

SCIENCE: Your brain actually doesn't suck at passwords


Illustration via Motherboard.


"Last year, two researchers asked a group of volunteers to log into a website 90 times over the span of ten days, using whatever password the volunteers chose.
After entering their password, the website showed the volunteers a short security code, made of either four random letters or two random words, and asked them to type it. Throughout the ten-day experiment, the site added more letters and words to the code—up to 12 random letters or six random words—and the security code would take just a little longer to be displayed, prompting the participants to remember it themselves before it appeared.
At the end of the experiment, and three days after the last login, a whopping 94 percent of the test subjects were able to remember from memory their random code word or phrase, which were seemingly nonsensical strings of characters like “zljndjjgjana” or meaningless phrases like “gaze sloth laugh grace relic born.” Without the volunteers knowing, the researchers had tricked their minds." Read full article by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai in Motherboard. E.T.P. 3'

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION: Feeding Forward


Photo via The Independent.


"A Californian woman, who developed an innovative phone app, has since helped to feed almost 600,000 homeless people – after she became tired of America’s growing food-waste problem.
Three years ago – when she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley –Komal Ahmad – now aged 25 – was walking near campus when a homeless man approached her and asked her for money to buy food." Read full story in The Independent. E.T.P. 4'

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION: Beyond the narcissism



Photo via Marketing Magazine.




Nicola Kemp in Marketing Magazine define the sixtrends that will define next decade social media, beyond narcissism. "Consumers and brands must both become less self-absorbed if they are to thrive in the next decade of social media.
Speaking at the Cannes Lions advertising festival, Peter Kim, chief digital officer at Cheil Worldwide, warned that narcissism has overtaken altruism as the driving force behind social connection.
"Popular culture fuels this behaviour, reinforcing the idea that being social is actually about self-promotion," he explains. This shift, he believes, has driven the social-media landscape to the point of self-obsessed absurdity. " Prepare for a shift from global narcissism to real empowerment. Read full article in Marketing Magazine. E.T.P. 5'

DESIGN, BUSINESS & INNOVATION: Why Open Platform is the future of the Internet of Things


Video still via INC.


In a video from INC, Valerie Casey, CPO of Samsung's Global Innovation Center, describes the benefits of an open platform where the best products are celebrated as the Internet of Things will become a dominant part of our lives. Watch video in INC. E.T.P. 2'

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT: The Science Behind Pixar's Inside Out


Movie still via Vulture.


"Ever since Pixar began showing previews of Inside Out, critics have been raving about its stunning animation, beautiful soundtrack, and creative portrayal of protagonist Riley's inner world. Daphna Shohamy, a researcher at Columbia University’s Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, appreciates Pixar’s latest movie for a different reason: She believes it has potential as an educational tool.
“I’m excited that people will learn from this movie about how malleable memories are,” she said. Shohamy was part of a group of scientists the filmmakers consulted during the making of the movie, and she explained a few things Inside Out can teach us about memory and the brain." Read full article in Vulture. E.T.P. 4'

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT: Free Russian Classics eBooks in the Moscow Metro


Photo: Dostoyevskaya Station in Moscow, Image by Zigurds Zakisvia Open Culture


"Late last year, the Moscow subway system launched a pilot where Moscow subway commuters, carrying smartphones and tablets, can download over 100 classic Russian works, for free. As they shuttle from one station to another, riding on subway cars equipped with free wifi, straphangers can read texts by Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Pushkin, Bulgakov, Lermontov, Gogol and more. Perhaps that takes the sting out of the soaring inflation." Read full article in Open Culture. E.T.P. 4'

CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT: The Muppets explain Phenomenology

Image via Critical Theory.


"Phenomenology was pioneered by Edmund Husserl in the early 20th century and studies the “structures of consciousness as experienced from the first-person point of view,” according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The field has influenced a wide array of critical theorists, including Jean-Paul Sartre and Martin Heidegger." In the Muppets video, uploaded in 2012 to YouTube, the song “Mahna Mahna” was subtitled to explain phenomenology. Have a look at the video and understand phenomenology in 3' in Critical Theory. E.T.P. 3'

IN DOG WE TRUST


Photo: Rambo the puppy via his Instagram.



Hello dog lover! Hope you're having a great day!
 
Here are some links for you:






Video of the week: Gift

Enjoy your Sunday! And follow Rambo on Instagram


-


In Dog We Trust is edited by Carola Melguizo of La Guía del Perro.