Dovi’s Digest Volume 254
A weekly newsletter for all your intellectual, spiritual, and physical needs
Hello all! Welcome to Volume 254 of Dovi’s Digest!
An intro, an intro, my kingdom for an intro! This immortal - and only slightly paraphrased - line spoken by Richard III demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice almost anything for a seemingly unimportant item (which would be invaluable at that moment, but let’s forget that for the sake of this piece).
For the last few months, I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to get my little intros to load. Each week I put time into the Digest and try to craft a short piece which links to the headline article. As has been apparent to many of you, they seem to cut off in the middle, or not publish at all. I’ve tried multiple fixes, none of which have worked. Finally in desperation I started entirely from scratch, inspecting each element – something I knew would be incredibly time consuming, but with the ultimate payoff of being able to sleep on a Thursday night.
Boy was I wrong. - It took all of five minutes. The header graphic was incompatible with the coding of the text, so I changed the file type and voila! It was done.
Moving on though, there were two famous birthdays this week: William Shakespeare’s (whose quote above I improved upon) and more importantly for humankind and culture, YouTube.
20 years ago, the very first YouTube video was uploaded, showing the elephants at the San Diego Zoo. Since then, it has become one of the biggest forces in music, news, learning – pretty much any information at all. To wit, recently I looked up how to reassemble a Yale strike lock that I’d taken apart and wasn’t able to fix (this is a common issue for me. I break things down into their constituent components to see how it works, and then try to recreate it. With mixed results.)
Many people more qualified than I have written pieces on why YouTube has been so influential, so instead I’ll leave you with a list of some of the most significant videos of the last 20 years. Some of my cultural touchstones (among many others) are Kitten Zoom Filter Mishap, Chocolate Rain, and Nyan Cat (no judgement please).
Don’t see your favourite? Hit reply and let me know what it is! I’d love to watch it!
In this week’s added extras:
This website helps you get through your day, one task at a time.
When Zeus fights aka the wildest lightning you’ve ever seen.
Vystery is an online game where you are presented with a picture composed of large dots. Each time you click on a dot it splits into several smaller dots, revealing a little bit more detail. The aim is to guess what the image shows, within 30 clicks. Give it a go here.
A three-time 100-meter Olympic champion smokes the other parents at her kid’s school sports day.
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 Jordan M and Jeff C! The answer and this week’s riddle are below.
Keep those articles (and everything else) coming.
Have a great weekend,
Dovi
And now, the articles:
YouTube Turns 20: From “Lazy Sunday” to “Hot Ones”
(Courtesy of Josh H)
The video-streaming platform has revolutionized how we watch things. Here’s a timeline of its biggest moments.
What Happens After the Death of The Pope?
The Economics of Movie Product Placements
Today’s films are brimming with products from big-name brands. How exactly do these partnerships work? And is the payoff worth it?
What Did Jesus Wear?
We may imagine in long robes with baggy sleeves, but this is far from how he would’ve dressed.
Jurassic Patent: How Colossal Biosciences is Attempting to Own the “Woolly Mammoth”
The company claiming it can restore lost species also wants to patent them.
Radioactive Man
On (maybe) unravelling a government cover-up.
TraderTraitor: The Kings of the Crypto Heist
Allegedly responsible for the theft of $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency from a single exchange, North Korea’s TraderTraitor is one of the most sophisticated cybercrime groups in the world.
Quote of the Week:
“I am a marvellous housekeeper. Every time I leave a man, I keep his house.” – Zsa Zsa Gabor
Word of the Week:
(Courtesy of Fred B)
Eviscerate
uh·vi·suh·rayt/ɪˈvɪsəreɪt/
Verb
FORMAL
disembowel (a person or animal).
"The goat had been skinned and neatly eviscerated."
2. deprive (something) of its essential content.
"Myriad little concessions that would eviscerate the project."
3. SURGERY
remove the contents of (the eyeball).
Do you know a word you think others should know about? Submit it here!
Facts of the Week:
The Dirty clothes worn by astronauts on the International Space Station are jettisoned to burn up on re-entry.
When astronaut Harrison Schmitt ran for the US Senate, his opponent's slogan was “What on Earth has he done for you lately?”
America 's Prohibition Party has been on every presidential ballot paper since 1872.
The Rhinoceros Party of Canada promises to repeal the law of gravity and improve higher education by building taller schools.
Turkish schools no longer teach evolution.
Pupils in Ireland study Irish for 10 years; outside school, only 1.8% of the population speak Irish every day.
Schools in Wakayama, Japan, serve whale meatballs for lunch.
Some schools in Pennsylvania have been equipped with buckets of stones to throw at armed attackers.
Cartoon of the Week:
Tweet of the Week:
Headline of the Week:
Brainteaser of the Week:
The dot above lowercase “i” and “j” is called a tittle. Your challenge is twofold:
1. Name a country that has three consecutive tittles in its name.
2. Name a global city that has three consecutive tittles in its name (it’s the capital of its country).
Last week’s brainteaser and answer:
What is the longest commonly used word that contains each of the five vowels (A, E, I, O, U) exactly once in reverse alphabetical order?
Answer:
Uncomplimentary (15 letters). Shorter words that also fit the criteria: subcontinental and unnoticeably.