Issue 116
Bizarro Devs is a monthly newsletter with the weird and wonderful tech news, tools, and websites.
🧠 A TRIP THOUGH NEUROTECH. ALSO, HOW TO IMPROVE PRIVACY ON YOUR SITE (AND THE ONES YOU VISIT)
Heya,
This month, I trended towards two main subjects: neurotech and job hunting. Yes, there is a shameless share of the Lead Developer position we'd like to fill.
I also noticed a few different privacy-focused tools for websites and some productivity tools.
In the fun stuff:
⏏️ A website full of physics simulations.
🐱 Another website that helps you create the purrfect purring sound.
🤖 A GitHub repo full of business ideas generated by GPT-3.
Enjoy,
Chris.
📰 From the Newsroom
🚴♂️ A quick trip through neurotech.
The Nintendo DS as neurotech: Remember when everyone went nuts over BrainAge? Well, it turns out there are even bigger things happening in our quest to understand, augment, and repair the brain.
That'll do, Elon. That'll do: When Elon Musk isn't saving civilization with Martian colonies, he's making sure Earthers will be able to keep up with AI. His most recent Neurolink demonstration with a pig has everyone talking about the potential benefits of neurotech.
A plug-n-play brain prosthesis: Researchers have developed a tool that can help people control a cursor with brain activity. It combines two tech darlings in machine learning and algorithms. Electrodes are placed on the surface of the brain to capture brain activity, the machine learning-enhanced algorithm uses the activity to continually updating itself rather than starting from scratch every day.
For vision restoration: Scientists from Monash University built a device that combines smartphone electronics with brain-implanted microelectrodes to bypass damaged optic nerves. Unlike Elon, the team from Monash tested their devices on sheep first. Like Elon, they have plans to develop treatment options for a range of conditions.
⚙️ Fantastic jobs and where to find them
Our attemts to hire a lead developer led me to notice more and more job related links this month.
Worse time ever: I don't think there is ever a fun time to be had when looking for a job. But, when times are tough, it is easier to get hoodwinked. This guide for identifying toxic software jobs from their descriptions has genuinely good tips for cutting through the BS in any job ad.
Great opportunities: On the other hand, Wholegrain Digital gives you an idea of a great working environment looks like. When you can find a company who are transparent about what they are trying, rather than just tell you how awesome they are, then things look on the up and up.
Getting settled: This is a longer read learning a new codebase. You know it's good because it explains how to search GitHhub like it's Stack Overflow.
⛓️ Ten Must See Links of the Month
Matt Taylor is a 3D motion designer with the best animation loops.
Ideas by AI posts ideas from GPT-3. All-day long. For $99 you can pay to have an idea removed, so you can work on it.
I genuinely "ooooo"ed when I read how to use marker for better-bulleted lists.
Running Google Analytics on your website is like engineering a flying pig. You will learn many things but not all of them useful. Umami is a free, open-source analytics tool that simplifies your data tracking.
Do you like cats but dislike their judgemental ways? This website helps you create purring sounds for all the awws of cat ownership without the apologies and recrimination.
I enjoyed this balanced review of WordPress even if I think the review is a little light on the cons. For one, WordPress is still too hard for most beginners.
Tweek is a weekly planner that may come in handy. I have been using Google Calendar but I get confused, easily it turns out because there's just too much happening on there.
Remember the days when you could discuss avocados in the privacy of your home without fear of ads tracking you everywhere? It is possible to recover privacy. This guide is all about app tracking and how to keep your data safe.
Speaking of privacy, Papercups is a self-hosted, open source chat widget. It has good integrations and great privacy.
A ton of physics simulations for playing and avoiding other things.
🧮 The numbers game
Nestle paid $2.6 billion for Aimmune Therapeutics who have developed an encouraging peanut allergy treatment.
Vinyl sales went through the roof in the first half of 2020 with $232.1 million spent on spinners. Unfortunately, physical sales dropped through the floor by 23% with CD sales accounting for just $129.9 million. Compare this with audio streaming which grew 12% to $4.8 billion.
The other electric car company
The electric truck maker Nikola could be closer to profit with GM buying an 11% stake in the company. The $2 billion dollar stake comes with a few other benefits including a guaranteed production line for the Badger line of trucks and exclusive battery supplies.
Outro
That's it for the week.
If you have links to share, then my emails are always open. Simply reply to this email to land in my inbox.
If this is the first time you're seeing this email, and you'd like to get more, then sign up here.
Have a great week,
Chris.