Interesting Links for 20-04-2018

[andrewducker]

Do not ready activated charcoal foods if you're on birth control (Or taking any medication)

(tags: food contraception OhForFucksSake )

Map: Final designs for top of Leith Walk revealed

(tags: edinburgh design transport )

Senior MPs to force (non-binding) customs union vote

Yay, more things for Theresa May to ignore!
(tags: Europe UK politics )

The UK Refused To Raid A Company Suspected Of Money Laundering, Citing Its Tory Donations

(tags: UK conservatives crime )

Amazon Prime passes 100m subscribers mark

(tags: amazon )

Finland to end basic income experiment

(tags: GuaranteedIncome finland )

Everspace dev paid thousands to influencers who were "shit at playing the game"

(tags: advertising games video )

What day, night and the shape of the terminator would look like on Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion Map

(tags: sun time maps video )

Some thoughts on autism

(tags: autism disability )

Land by latitude and longitude, or, a pile of continents (makes it clear how small Europe is)

(tags: maps earth viaDanielDWilliam )

Mammals are smaller than they used to be, and it’s our fault

(tags: mammals prehistory humans death )

Robot Conquers One of the Hardest Human Tasks: Assembling Ikea Furniture

Although I actually enjoy assembling Ikea furniture, and rarely find it hard
(tags: furniture ikea robots )

Why is insect protein more expensive than pork chops?

(tags: insects food money )

The Eurovision Song Contest...In Spaaaaaaaaace!

(tags: review music scifi )

Male contraceptive compound stops sperm without affecting hormones (in monkeys)

(tags: contraceptive sperm monkey men )

Dear Prince Charles, do you think my brown skin makes me unBritish?

(tags: royalty uk racism )

Taxi firms face claims over drivers' rights in wake of Uber case

(tags: jobs law taxi )

Comments

[cybik]

I think people who find Ikea furniture hard tend not to look at details. There are no pointless lines in Ikea drawings. To be fair I have a good sense of how to build things, but I find assembling Ikea furniture really easy and actually reduces my stress levels... It does mean I constructed most of the furniture in my boyfriend's house and about half of the stuff in my outlaws' place!

[momentsmusicaux]

I find IKEA furniture pretty simple too. They do clearly spend time making sure the steps aren't too complicated and the instructions are clear. I've bought self-assembly furniture from various other places, and the instructions were shit (too cramped, too much fiddly stuff in the diagrams whereas IKEA always trim down to only show you what's relevant to that step), and the actual work involved was trickier.

[gingicat]

My response to the “thoughts on autism” was marked as spam. Here it is:
I find this very simplistic.

Have you heard of Amy Sequenzia, non-speaking autistic blogger who requires daily assistance with self-care? Where does she fit into this essay of yours?
https://ollibean.com/tag/amy-sequenzia/

[aldabra]

Ha, yes, I looked at the activated carbon drink label which said it absorbed toxins, gas, and impurities, and thought I bet it absorbs nutrients too. Of course I'm only remotely likely to buy it if I'm on a health kick and I have some kind of lunch with actual nutrients in it, specifically because I suspect I may be running out of nutrients.

[miss_s_b]

The bit that bothered me the most was the bit about high/low-functioning labels.

I object to them because I am labelled as high functioning. I can construct an argument and have so far survived in the world... just about. But it takes a massive toll on my spoons, and some days I barely have the function to scroll listlessly through twitter. Yet I am labelled high functioning, which implies I am all right and can cope. Sometimes I really really can't.

And yes, Amy is great.

[franklanguage]

I read the article about mealworms as a protein replacement, and it made me happy to be a vegan.

[nancylebov]

I'll be a lot more impressed when robots can construct IKEA furniture using IKEA's instructions.

[ninetydegrees]

Every time I see an 'Ikea is hard' post, I wonder whom it's hard for? Do people find it hard to follow the instructions or is it a stupid stereotype at this point? Or is it an American thing? That's not a common thing to say in my country for example and we have other similar brands which have the same kind of simple instructions, and nobody minds. The only thing we joke about is the time it's supposed to take you vs the time it really takes you. (I like that Lego doesn't say this...)

[gingicat]

Yeah, exactly.

[gingicat]

The main thing I find difficult about flat-pack furniture is getting all the pre-drilled holes to line up correctly. Sometimes it’s very clear that the machines were improperly programmed.

[ninetydegrees]

Very true. Or that quality control clearly favored approximation :)

In my country Ikea went from being cheap and not particularly sturdy to being not so cheap or even not cheap at all to being better quality. I don't think it has truly major competition but it does have some and this led every company to try and be better and more creative. But way less cheap.

[andrewducker]

I mentioned the "marked as spam" over there, and it's now been published.

[gingicat]

Aw, thank you!

[terribleturnip]

The differentiation on on insect protein vs animal protein is simply scale. Remember when solar panels for your house would take twenty years to recoup? But now takes 8 or less.

And you can buy pork in the supermarket...or forest raised heritage breed pork from a local grower at double the price per pound. It's the scale.

Insect protein has just started to crack mainstream markets...it will become cheaper as operations figure out how to become more efficient.

[andrewducker]

I'm just not sure they're going to scale unless they get cheaper, or mainstream meat gets more expensive.