🧱 Lego bricks and internet travels - This Geek in Review for 2022-05-20

Lego bricks are the model building of the 21st century

I’ve soured on all of the Lego sets that are being sold. Sure, they are cool and many people get enjoyment out of building the sets. For me, I like building my own things out of Lego bricks. When I get a new set, I build it once and then I tear it apart to create something new.

That being said, some of these sets are intricate and cool enough to warrant keeping them together as a model. The Saturn V set is one, and this upcoming Optimus Prime

• Lego built a $170 Transformers Optimus Prime that actually transforms - The Verge
• Lego’s latest millennial nostalgia-bait is a 1,508-piece transformable Optimus Prime | Ars Technica
• Optimus Prime 10302 | Creator Expert | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US

Internet Travels

Geek

• Star Wars’ TV Rebellion: ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi,’ ‘Ahsoka,’ and ‘Andor’ Rise | Vanity Fair
• Rian Johnson’s Star Wars Trilogy Has Been Delayed

Retro

• We have played the lost Duke Nukem Forever build from 2001 | Ars Technica
• Duke Nukem Forever’s 2001 build appears online, may fully leak in June | Ars Technica
• Pioneer Rediscovered: The Woman who Brought Female Representation to Games | Video Game History Foundation
• The Mastermind Episode 3: He Always Had a Dark Side - The Atavist Magazine “How did a Usenet troll and encryption genius become a criminal mastermind?”

Videogames

• Elon Musk Reveals His Terrible Elden Ring Build On Twitter
• EverQuest players break sacred MMO code by waking up 20-year-old dragon | PC Gamer
• Fall Guys goes free-to-play and arrives on Switch and Xbox June 21st - The Verge
• The Aya Neo 2 and Aya Neo Slide have specs that could challenge the Steam Deck - The Verge

Technology

• It’s about time: The Google Pixel Watch arrives this fall | Ars Technica
• Behind the expert testimony in the ‘Fitbit murder’ trial - The Verge
• Russian tanks are using chips from household appliances due to sanctions | TechSpot
• Researchers devise iPhone malware that runs even when device is turned off | Ars Technica
• US military learning from Russian troops using cell phones in Ukraine
• Boost Mobile will let you lower your phone bill by playing games and watching ads - The Verge

Science

• Feast your eyes on the first image of the black hole at the center of our Milky Way | Ars Technica
• Algae-powered computing: scientists create reliable and renewable biological photovoltaic cell | University of Cambridge
• Social media break improves mental health – new study
• Slow walking may be to blame for perceived congestion in pedestrian areas

Pop Culture

• Why advertising won the streaming wars
• 'Tremors' Star Fred Ward Has Passed Away at 79 - Bloody Disgusting
• ‘Married…with Children’ Animated Series With Original Cast Hits TV Marketplace – Deadline

Pot Pourri

• Video of passenger landing plane in Florida after pilot incoherent
• Still in search of the lost McDonald's Product Shrimp McBites - no photo evidence has ever been found - possibly the rarest product ever served at McDonalds? : lostmedia
• Torment and Triumph: The Remarkable Story Behind Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” – The Marginalian
• The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background | Scientific Reports
• Built by Fans and Inspired by Snacks: 7-Eleven Unveils Completed Model 711 Car
• How long your meetings should last

–

• Obesity and individual performance: the case of eSports | International Journal of Obesity
• Everything is trending all at once on TikTok. - Vox
• Chore apps were meant to make mothers’ lives easier. They often don't. | MIT Technology Review
• A new post added 2022-05-18-08-22
• Taika Waititi’s Star Wars will be the next franchise film
• Napster joins Limewire and Winamp by jumping on the web3 bandwagon - The Verge
• Wisconsin man celebrates 50 years of eating Big Macs every day

• Asides
• Tgir