Link About It: This Week’s Picks
An animated gay love story, ice cream that doesn’t melt, oyster vending machines and more in our look at the web
1. Non-Melting Ice Cream
At the Biotherapy Development Research Center in Kanazawa, an accidental discovery has resulted in the invention of non-melting ice cream. The ingredient is a polyphenol liquid, extracted from strawberries, that “make[s] it difficult for water and oil to separate”—meaning, in this instance, that a popsicle keeps its shape. Kanazawa Ice first became available earlier this year, and now can be bought in Osaka and Tokyo. Head to Quartz to find out more about the origin story.
2. Nine Significant Male Friendships in Art
From Salvador Dalí and Man Ray, to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Dash Snow and Dan Colen, there are plenty of friendships in the art world that were more than social—they spawned mentorships, collaborations, and certainly resulted in new volumes of work being created. Several male duos pushed each other professionally, and ultimately stepped beyond mutual admiration into motivation. Take a look at nine examples over at Artsy.
3. The Viral Success of “In a Heartbeat”
Same-gender love stories occupy a very small portion of the content out there and that’s what makes the viral success of “In a Heartbeat” so important. Surely many individuals have watched it more than once, but with over a million likes and more than 15 million views (at time of publish), the Pixar-like short film and its story of a boy who is outed to his crush by his very own heart has clearly reached so many. Filmmakers Beth David and Esteban Bravo also succeeded at producing LGBTQ content that’s appropriate for younger audiences—complete with innocence and adoration.
4. Honolulu Bans Cellphones on Crosswalks
Come 25 October 2017, if you can’t seem to peel your eyes from your phone while crossing a street in Honolulu, you might be slapped with a $15 to $99 fine. The Hawaiian capital will be the first major city in the USA to pass a law like this—aiming to reduce injury and death blamed on “smartphone zombies.” Mayor Kirk Caldwell tells Reuters, “We hold the unfortunate distinction of being a major city with more pedestrians being hit in crosswalks, particularly our seniors, than almost any other city in the county.” Of course, this legislation is somewhat controversial, as many believe it’s intrusive and a waste of police officers time—on the flip-side of course, it might reduce the number of deaths due to us humans becoming more and more distracted by our technology addictions.
5. Mophie’s New Laptop-Charging Battery
Not much bigger than Mophie’s smartphone-charging packs, the just-announced Powerstation USB-C XXL carries enough power to lend a full extra charge to Apple laptops. It does so by way of a rapid charging USB-C connector, which limits its compatibility to MacBooks from 2015 and later, or MacBook Pros from 2016 and later. Mophie worked with Apple on the sleek, fabric-covered design—and the battery will only be available through Apple stores or Mophie’s site, for $150.
6. The Golden Age of Bronx Graffiti
A new photo book by brothers Kenny and Paul Cavalieri, “From the Platform 2” traces the golden years of Bronx graffiti. The Cavalieris began shooting painted subway trains in 1983, a time in which style was king and competition among writers was strong. The brothers continued shooting (learning train schedules in order to get the best shots) until 1989, when the last painted train was finally taken out of service. See more at the Guardian.
7. Cindy Sherman’s Instagram Account is Now Public
Some time over the past couple of months, artist Cindy Sherman made her Instagram account public—much to the delight of her admirers. With an incredible look into her process, and (of course) her conceptual, manipulated self-portraits. While it has many guessing as to whether it’s a glimpse of new work, or perhaps artwork in itself, it’s a fascinating social media account that’s much more engaging than many out there.
8. France Now Has Oyster Vending Machines
The French have once again invented something irrefutably French: a 24-hour oyster vending machine. Of course the machines are refrigerated, and they also have glass walls so consumers can choose which oysters they want. One farmer, Tony Berthelot (who has a machine on Ile de Re island, off France’s western coast) says the idea was born from “losing lots of sales when we are closed,” he tells Reuters. “There was a cost involved when buying this machine, of course, but we’re paying it back in installments… And today, in theory, we can say that the calculations are correct and it’s working.” Find out more at Reuters.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
