Engaged Reading Time - Issue #78
Hello. I'm back. The last few months have been hard. Let us never discuss them again.
We're still going to stay pretty much COVID-19 free here. Where we do touch on it, it'll be thinking forwards, not about the current moment.
We all need to stop doomscrolling for a while.
Just a reminder, this is my irregular "interesting and rather arbitrary things to read" newsletter. If you're here for my deep and compelling thoughts on journalism (*cough*) you might want to hit "unsubscribe" and head over here instead.
Feel free.
Still here?
Great!
Let's get on with some random interesting reading!
Building the James Bond iPod
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/006/396/571/web/Bechtel-card-640x193.jpg?1597826123)
The Case of the Top Secret iPod
This is a fascinating story of a very special, and quite genuinely unique iPod built by the Department of Energy in the US, with assistance from Apple. Only a handful of Apple staff ever knew. And even they didn't know what it was for…
Paging Drs Dunning and Kruger…
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/006/398/531/web/header_gettyimages-672704954.jpg?1597853756)
Real experts know what they don’t know and we should value it
The ignorant pundit is absolutely certain; the true expert understands their own limits and how to ask the right questions. Or, to quote Yeats: "the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
Read Twitter through the lens of this article - and it will open your eyes.
Why the hordes are heading for the sea
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/006/396/806/web/durdledoor.jpg?1597829208)
Why is everyone rushing to the beach? Blue Mind
Blue mind sounds a bit like a condition acquired by someone who has spent far, far too long on PornHub, but it's actually much more lovely than that suggests…
This does, though, imply a more complex explanation for some of the worrying scenes we've seen on our beaches in recent months than just "substitute holidays".
Ultimate Play The Game
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/006/398/583/web/s3-news-tmp-247257-anzuuuuupicture1--default--975.png?1597854246)
Advertisers, gamers aren't who you think they are
I am honestly baffled by the political and media response to gaming. It's a huge industry, with as much economic and social clout as Hollywood (and Bollywood and…). And yet, discussion of it still seems to be regarded as a niche issue.
When does this change?
(If you get the Ultimate… reference above, you're old. But then, so am I. 😉)
File under "nope"
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/006/396/606/web/5f3ac3c3ea6ce0002839ac62.jpeg?1597826709)
Panasonic’s new home cubicle is a disheartening glimpse at our work-from-home future
Nope. Nope. Nope. nopenopenope.
Oh, and nope.
Could the pandemic birth a green revolution?
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/revue/items/images/006/398/616/web/jp-valery-o2CiM3MQQ_c-unsplash-scaled.jpg?1597854639)
A green recovery is our best hope of staving off the climate crisis
The author on this one feels familiar. Can't quite place the name. Hmm. 🤔😇
Something to watch
This is beautiful and bizarre. It sounds like something that should open a particular style of movie. Lots more of it here. Found via Kottke.