A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 139 of Dovi’s Digest.
I have this issue that I can’t seem to shake. At least once a year, I pick up a new hobby. It will invariably be something that I deem cool (so probably quite nerdy), will have some sort of physical aspect involving either brute strength or dexterity, and the basics will be easy enough, but gaining real proficiency is extremely difficult. Within a few months, I’d become super frustrated and then give it up altogether. Not because I don’t have the ability, but because I’m not suddenly world class at that skill.
I read this week’s headline article a few weeks ago and it turned the notion that I think that I am useless on its head. I’ve always known intellectually that a few months of rowing does not an Oxford crew member make (aside from the fact that I’m a soft 5’10” and have a bum knee), but for some reason I wouldn’t accept it emotionally. I’m glad to report that since then, I’ve rigorously stuck to something. I’ve tried many times over the years and have given up in disgust at my perceived lack of talent. I’m not only enjoying it, but embracing the suck, am more compassionate with myself, and am more understanding that it’s a process. Not to say I don’t get frustrated when I spend an hour on something it would take someone of moderate skill a few minutes to master, but I persevere and move forward. Even if you don’t have a white whale, the article is sure to make you smile.
A reminder that the Dovi’s Digest Facebook and Twitter pages are live, with great facts, quotes, and articles. Go give them a follow to make yourself a little smarter daily.
The Digest is truly global with subscribers from more than 30 countries (and counting!). We all have different tastes and ways of keeping busy. So here’s a list of the most popular websites in every country in the world so you can learn about the preferences of your fellow netizens.
Do you enjoy the Digest? Would you like it to get better? Then please consider sharing it, as the more articles I’m sent, the better it is. It only takes a few seconds, and all you need to do is click here 👇. Thank you!
There were TWO correct answers to last week’s brainteaser. Well done to Chaim Ehrlich and Ryan Subotzky. The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
There are other articles to keep you interested as well. Reach peak millennial cringe, find out what there is to be had in the world’s largest collection of menus, see the video game that has cats hooked, learn some etymological quirks, find some odd Spotify genres, and read about how the world’s largest shipping company unwittingly became the world’s largest drugs mule. Enjoy!
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great week,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
In Praise of Amateurism
In her early thirties Nadia Beard has returned to the piano, enrolled at Tbilisi’s conservatoire, and found a passion for practice – and a lesson for life.
Toward A Unified Theory Of “Millennial Cringe”
(Courtesy of Josh Friedlander)
Remember when “epic bacon” was the height of comedy?
Getting Lost in the World’s Largest Stack of Menus
The Buttolph collection of menus at the New York Public Library continues to inspire a new generation of researchers, chefs, and restaurant fans.
Pressing Paws: Stray, The Video Game That’s a Hit With Cats (and Their Humans)
Stray, a new indie title starring the internet’s favourite animal, is delighting players and pets alike, and its creators at BlueTwelve have been charmed by the reaction.
25 Words That Are Their Own Opposites
Once everyone has left, what’s left?
What Is “Escape Room” And Why Is It One Of My Top Genres On Spotify?
Using data to understand how genres understand us.
How a Cocaine-Smuggling Cartel Infiltrated the World’s Biggest Shipping Company
As MSC grew into a dominant force in global trade, it also became a prime drug-trafficking conduit for Balkan gangs.
Quote of the Week:
“The trouble with being punctual is that nobody is there to appreciate it.” – Franklin Jones
Facts of the Week:
According to US flag code, the Stars and Stripes is a living thing.
The current 50-star US flag was designed in 1958 by a 17-year-old as part of school project. He got a B.
A retired UN official has spent 25 years collecting 4000 “Do Not Disturb” signs.
The official retirement age for Russian men is two years above their average life expectancy.
Alzheimer's cannot be definitively diagnosed until the patient is dead.
Jason Bourne is named after Ansel Bourne, one of the most famous amnesiacs in medical history.
Type A and Type B personalities were made up by a tobacco company.
Smoking the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad is said to be like having a Force 5 hurricane in your head.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
For each of the five tasks below, you must divide a square into four parts that have the same shape, but whose sizes are determined by the following statements:
i) All four shapes are the same size.
ii) Only three are the same size.
iii) Two are the same size, and the other two are also the same size (but a different size from the first two).
iv) Two are the same size, and the other two are different sizes.
v) No two parts are the same size.
Here’s a solution for the first one. The square is divided into four triangles that are the same shape, and the same size.
.
For clarification: within each solution, the four parts must have the same shape. It is only their sizes that may change. However, each solution may involve a different shape. One solution fits perfectly along the lines of a 12 x 12 square, one on a 10x10 square, and one involves triangles.
Last Week’s Brainteaser and Answer:
Your goal in this puzzle is to create a path of digits in a 5x5 grid that goes 1,2,3,4,5 and then repeats the digits in a loop. The path can start in any cell, and moves horizontally or vertically, but never diagonally, and cannot cross itself. Digits cannot repeat in the same row or column (just like Sudoku). Here’s an example of a path of length 12.
The path stops because there is nowhere to put the 3 without breaking the rule of not repeating numbers in the same row or column.
Can you find a path that has length 19, the maximum possible?
Answer:
This is one way of doing it: