Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Hunting stars, North Korean interiors, “Finstagram” and more in this week’s look at the web
1. An Interview with Gloria Steinem and Ruth Bader Ginsburg
While their careers have taken them to different places, Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (aka Notorious RGB) and women’s rights activist and journalist Gloria Steinem have fought for similar ideals throughout their lives. Now in their 80s, the friends sat down with The New York Times to discuss the parallels between their lives, the first time they met and the injustices that fueled their careers—including an instance, where after being accepted into Harvard Law School, the dean asked RBG, “How do you justify taking a spot from a qualified man?” Read the full interview with the two legends at The Times.
2. 11 Unexpected Gifts Found on Etsy
As much as we love luxury cars and self-piloting drones, we at Cool Hunting are continuously inspired by independent makers and the crafts they hone—and there’s no better place to find these talented individuals than on Etsy. We’ve recently teamed up with the online marketplace to select some of the most unique and unforgettable gifts they have to offer—from hand-painted boomerangs to concrete planters, build-it-yourself spaceship models and more. View (and shop) the full list at Etsy.
3. North Korean Interiors That Look Like Wes Anderson Sets
On a recent trip to North Korea, writer and photographer Oliver Wainwright noticed a common theme amongst the country’s interiors: they all looked very similar to Wes Anderson set designs. He decided to document the spaces, posting photos of their pastel colors, visual symmetry and retro detailing on a Tumblr page called North Korean Interiors. Head to High Snobiety to take a look at the surprisingly colorful rooms.
4. “Finstagram” Seeks Authenticity on Social Media
With so many feeds feeling like contrived online personas, Instagram users are taking part in a new trend that gives them a break from photo-editing, filtering and carefully crafted captions. Called “finstagram“—or fake-Instagram—it works by creating an additional account, usually kept private, that only close friends and family members can follow. They coexist with the user’s original account and allow them to share inside jokes, silly selfies and intimate glimpses into their everyday lives with people they care about most. Read more about the budding trend at The New York Times.
5. A Journey Through Broadway’s Diverse Typography
Together with typography expert Kenya Sarskaya, online publication Hopes&Fears embarked on a journey down Broadway to discover the street’s diverse collection of signage and lettering. Starting at W 181st street and traveling down to Brooklyn’s Bowling Green neighborhood, they encountered both influential typefaces and one-off designs, choosing 26 to examine further. From Murray’s Sturgeon Shop’s nostalgic red-and-yellow neon sign to Morningside Garage’s Neuzeit-Grotesk-inspired styling, see some of Broadway’s most distinct typography at Hopes&Fears.
6. “Print” Murals With the Human-Guided SprayPrinter
The SprayPrinter, developed by an Estonia-based start-up, is new a spray painting system that “prints” out large-scale murals using a human hand as its guide. Accompanied by a dedicated mobile app, the contraption maps out targeted walls or canvases and sprays a small dot each time it passes over an area that should be colored in—it’s basically a giant, human-powered inkjet printer. Though they’ve released a video of a working prototype, SprayPrinter is currently building a consumer-ready model which will soon be available on Indiegogo. Until then, head to PSFK to see it in action.
7. You’re Tying Your Shoes Wrong
Most people don’t think about alternative shoe-lacing and knotting techniques once they master the typical bow knot. But growing up sometimes requires different shoes for different occasions, and lacing systems that are more advanced than bunny ears. In an easy-to-follow tutorial, Bloomberg explains the best ways to lace formal shoes, casual shoes and sneakers—with a video on how to tie the perfect windsor knot to boot.
8. How Astronomers are Hunting Ancient Stars
At 4.6 billion years old, our beloved Sun is considered young when compared with the 13-billion-year-old stars that occupy the furthest reaches of our galaxy. Those stars, called “pristine” by astronomers, took shape just 300 million years after the Big Bang and are recognizable by a lighter metallic composition. Various teams of astronomers are currently on the hunt for these stars, looking into the night sky from telescopes located in Australia, and more recently, Chile. Head to The Atlantic to learn how they’re tracking them down.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
