Personal Media Summary: July 2016

Random general reads from July:

• A “scientific” take on the basic shapes of stories¹ (no kidding)

• Behind every romantic myth is a bunch of B.S., which, this author claims, is the case with _Bushido_²

• My music pick of the month: a track³ from Bladerunner

• An article showcases⁴ how well-intentioned political reforms in the past led to the chaotic present conditions

• Yanis Varoufakis shares⁵ his opinion on things to come

• Photo pick of the month: X-ray images⁶ of train stations!

• More typograph (last month: Alien, this month: _Bladerunner_[^typography])

• Amazing and poignant pictures⁷ showcasing lost Soviet technology, in a London exhibition. Sample caption:

“Secret cities that cannot be found on maps, forgotten scientific triumphs, abandoned buildings of almost inhuman complexity. The perfect technocratic future that never came.” (from a memorial on a deserted nuclear station)

• Some kid posted⁸ on Reddit about building an amateur fusion reactor, which is awesome, except for this depressing acknowledgement:

Spending 3+ hours a day on a project during junior and senior year did not help my grades. My counselor told me that I wouldn’t get into the top colleges because of this reason. I believed her and didn’t apply to my dream colleges.

• Blast from the past: an article⁹ from 1996 (yes!) about memes and memetic engineering (so yeah, memes aren’t new, kids :P)

• Yes, helicopter parenting should be, uh, avoided, but this author¹⁰ sympathises and blames gentrification instead.

• Finally, file this in the “surprising biological news” section: apparently¹¹ crows try to investigate the deaths of their fallen kin, and even hold funerals (!) for them.