Car ownership, suggested Peter Franklin, for Unherd, will soon be a thing of the past. Automation, he argued, will see off that particular pesky human concept, just as it has done so many others….
Plastic Fantastic Lover.
Researchers from the universities of Cantabria and Cambridge have discovered that wax-moth caterpillars might be (a tiny) part of the solution to our worldwide addiction to plastic. Because, erm, they seem to like eating it….
Aire Gaditano.
An architectural restoration project in Cadiz, Spain, will be the first in Europe to feature air cooling with an energy cost of close to zero said El Pais. To which we say, ¡Olé!
All Things Must Pass.
The heyday of super profitable banks is over, said former Barclays chief Anthony Jenkins in The Daily Telegraph. And that, he suggested, is at least partly due to AI. Buckle up bankers!
We’re S.H.O.P.P.I.N.G.
How might the classic retail store fight back against the overwhelming reality of Amazon et al? The BBC had some interesting suggestions….
Mother’s Little Helper.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Breeze Blows Leaves Of A Musty-Coloured Yellow.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Six Feet Under.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
You, Angel Baby, You.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Careless Whisper.
Alexa and Siri are hackable. Seriously hackable, it turns out. FastCo reported that a team of researchers from Zhejiang University were able to translate voice commands into ultrasonic frequencies that humans cannot detect….
Love Cats.
Jaguar Land Rover announced that they will offer an ‘electrified’ version of every car in their range by 2020. At the same time, CEO Ralf Speth took a swipe at the UK government and asked a pertinent question about the futures of hundreds of thousands of lorry drivers….
‘Cause You Won’t Stop Talking.
The Evening Standard ran a piece on lost English words. Fascinatingly, so many of them seem so incredibly apt for our own age. We love ‘ear-rent’, for a start….
And We’ve Got To Get Ourselves Back To The Garden.
The Washington Post reported that millennials are filling their homes with houseplants. Nice. Until you read the suggestion that they’re doing this to ‘fill the void in their hearts’….
Please Allow Me To Introduce Myself.
Japanese drone manufacturer, ProDrone, has developed a ‘giant drone with dual robot arm’. No doubt it can and will be put to some great humanitarian use. But to us it just looks terrifying, and the music that the manufacturers chose to launch it with doesn’t help much….
Wasting Away The Moments That Make Up A Dull Day.
For The Guardian, Simon Jenkins wrote a withering opinion piece on that all-too-familiar phenemenon, the office meeting. If you’re due to go to one today, he suggests, don’t. And, frankly, he has a point….
It’s Time For Africa.
(And Asia). The future is not European, American (north or south) or Australasian. It is Asian and African. MapPorn featured an eye-opening illustration of births by continent in 2016 which proves this point beyond any smidgeon of a doubt….
Deutschland Uber Alles.
London might have said goodbye to Uber, at least for now. But might the app-led service be in danger of becoming irrelevant anyway? German firm Lilium certainly hopes so. Because they make flying taxis. Yes, really….
And I’ve Been Working Like….
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
I Read The News Today. Oh Boy.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Ashes To Ashes.
Many people these days make (frankly terrifying) claims about human immortality being just around the corner. But no one yet, as far as we know, has delivered it. With the possible exception of the superbly-named ‘And Vinyly’….
It’s Probably Me.
Carlsberg blew us away with their brilliantly on-brand TEDxCopenhagen talk. Delivered by their 130-years-dead founder. If Carlsberg did Ted talks….
Smile.
Smile. In fact, we defy you not to cry when you watch these deaf people ‘hear’ for the first time. Tech, at it’s most human best….
Ghost Stories.
The British government put £8m into ‘driverless trucks’. The shape of things to come or an accident waiting to happen? Or possibly both…?
A Tribe Called Quest.
Or, better, a quest called ‘Tribe’. Nick, for The Marketing Society, explained why marketers need to think about how their brands can meet, not just generate, global demand. Because there is a new tribe in town, and that’s what they want….
It’s Oh So Quiet.
Does the constant jibber-jabber of your colleagues or the general hustle-bustle of your work environment drag you down? Then, at least according to its makers, you need the ‘Helmfon’. And, given the time of year, it can’t be an April Fool. Can it…?
God Only Knows.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Get Back.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Walking On The Beaches Looking At The Peaches.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
I’d Like To Be, Under The Sea.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Rolling, Rolling, Rolling, Rolling.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
I Ain’t Got Time To Fix The Ceiling.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
And He Shows Them, Pearly White.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Whooooo Lives In A Pineapple Under The Sea?
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Just Stop Your Crying, It’s A Sign Of The Times.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Lick It Up.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Hit Me Baby One More Time.
If God doesn’t any longer ‘know all the secrets of our hearts’, Google sure does. Including how people like to, ahem, ‘get off’. Olga Khazan conducted a truly eye-popping interview with Seth Stevens-Davidowitz, a former data scientist at the tech behemoth. Don’t say we didn’t warn you….
Another Day For You And Me In Paradise.
Artist Abdalla Al Omari shocked us and many others with his disturbing ‘The Vulnerability Series’. All the more reason to check his haunting series of paintings that smash together, with mercilessly brutal effect, the weary, heart-breaking reality of refugees with the well-known faces of world leaders….
I Took Her To A Supermarket.
Amazon bought Whole Foods. And it’s a game-changer. The industry, still reeling from trying to work out which way is up in the 21st Century, was taken by surprise. But Wall Street approved, instantly adding a whopping $11bn to the retail giant’s market cap….
This Much I Know Is True.
Fake news is all the rage. From the POTUS down. But, according to the Economist, we ‘ain’t seen nothing yet’. Recordings, both audio and visual, of ‘things that never happened’ are soon to be upon us, generated by increasingly smart algorithms. Does this mean Winston Smith is out of a job?
This Town, Coming Like A Ghost Town.
CNBC reported on Voodoo, a Brooklyn-based 3D print shop; the latest business to follow the trend towards robot domination of the manufacturing process. Our question is then – why remain located in super-hip-but-hideously-expensive Brooklyn? Do the robots have a thing for organic food and craft beer?
I Am A Rock, I Am An Island.
Do your colleagues wear headphones all the time? Do your children? And what do everyone’s ‘own private soundtracks’ mean for society, anyway? Those are the questions raised by Edgar Wright’s new film, Baby Driver, which Spencer Kornhaber reviewed for The Atlantic….
It’s Cool For Cats.
OK, so we got to this party late. Very late. But YouTube video ‘What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains’ is truly fabulous; required viewing for everyone who wants to understand more about the world – and the people – around us today. And tomorrow….
I’m Searching For The Man In The Mirror.
The Culture Trip ran a piece on the most common words present on the wikipedia page of every country in the world. What does it all mean? Is the map a mirror to the soul of these nations, a great psychological truth, or just meaningless nonsense? We don’t know. But we can’t stop looking at it….
Because I Got High.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Golden Brown.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
She’s A Killer Queen.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
At The End Of The Day, It’s Another Day Over.
Every week, Jamie Colonna, Monticello’s Creative Partner, shares an image that has – in one way or another – moved him.
Concentration Moon.
Srini Pillay, for The Harvard Business Review, wrote a piece on focus. Not, as you might expect, that we need more of it. In fact, the opposite. Pillay argues that it is the unfocused mind that holds the key to creativity and success in the 21st Century.
The Scientist?
The Daily Caller ran an article that will chill anyone who cares about objectivity in science in the 21st Century. Two academics decided to see if they could a ’scientific paper’ which they openly admitted had been ‘actively written to avoid having any merits whatsoever’ – in a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal….
