Ian Robinson's Weekly Digest - 30th May 2021

Another music-heavy week! There are 13 pointers to new music in the Culture section below. Plus some old music via the recreation of a 1979 Queen concert. And 10 assorted links to things that caught my eye this week. Get me on Twitter if you want to discuss any of the items in this post.

Mapping: Lights at Sea - Geodienst RUG - Link

An animated map of lighthouses around the world. The data is very rich for the British Isles and Europe.

Cybersecurity: Sleuthing DarkSide Crypto-Ransom Payments with the Wolfram Language - Wolfram Blog - Link

A wonderfully geeky post by Dariia Porechna of Wolfram Research using the built-in blockchain capabilities in Wolfram Language to trace the journey of a ransom paid to cyber criminals.

Astronomy: Flying Pancakes from Space: Interstellar Visitors - Chris Lintott - Link

Chriss Lintott reviews Avi Leob’s new book about the intergalactic object Oumuamua that passed through the Solar System in 2017. And outlines why it’s probably not an alien spaceship reconnoitering the local area.

Medicine: Injection of light-sensitive proteins restores blind man’s vision - Nature - Link

Not much to add to this except some cliches: Progress! and Science For The Win!

Weather: Surprised by May’s terrible weather? It comes with the territory - English has over 40 words for ‘drizzle - Susie Dent - Link

This is not surprising. We do love to chat about the rain in the British Isles (It’s not just limited to England!)

Weather: NASA’s Curiosity Rover Captures Shining Clouds on Mars - Nasa Curiosity Rover - Link

We humans are not content to restrict our weather interest to Earth 😊

Society: Ignorance & Censorship - Philosophy Tube - Video Link

A fabulous video talk on ignorance by Abigail Thorn. Both willful ignorance and genuine ignorance. And how it feeds into censorship in society.

Racism: What the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Destroyed - The New York Times - Link

A remarkable and well-done article (using very good web presentation methods) about the 1921 racist attack on a prosperous predominantly Black district in Tulsa. A stain on the history of the USA.

Games: Apple Arcade Clap Hanz Golf - Clap Hanz - Link

The best golf game ever is now on Apple Arcade (I include real golf in this sweeping statement). This means it is available on Mac, iPhone, iPad, and AppleTV without ads as part of the £5 a month Apple Arcade subscription. It’s also on other platforms under different names. I played it to death on PS3 as Everybody’s Golf World Tour.

Music: Queen - Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1979 (2021 DEFINITIVE SOURCE MERGE/MATRIX) - Queen Live Rarities - Video Link

A spliced-together video using the best bits of audio and video that exist from the 1979 Queen Hammersmith Odean concert (the Rock for Kampuchea charity gig). Fabulous. A few songs have just audio, and the screen is left black during those. A fantastic historical record of Queen live in their late 1970’s pomp.

Maisie Peters - Trying Season 2 (Album) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Lord Huron - Long Lost (Album) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Marina - Ancient Dreams in a modern Land (Single) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Twenty One Pilots - Scaled And Icy (Album) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Biig Piig - The Sky is Bleeding (EP) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Billie Marten - Flora Fauna (Album) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Rhodri - Fork in the Road (Single) - Apple Music - Spotify - Instagram

Maple Glider - Swimming (Single) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Proletarian - Society of Thieves (Single) - Apple Music - Spotify - Instagram

Ina Wroldsen - Release name (EP) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Drama - Don’t Hold Back (Single) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Griff - Black Hole (Single) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter

Joon Moon & Julien Decoret - Feel It (feat. Liv Warfield) (Single) - Apple Music - Spotify - Twitter (Joon Moon) - Twitter (Liv Warfield)

Here are Apple Music and Spotify playlists with all the singles and one selected track from each album or EP. In no particular order. Play them on shuffle!