Welcome to the Wednesday Walk Around the Web, where we weave & wind through weblinks weekly. Hopefully you will find the links on offer amusing, interesting, or, occasionally, profound. Do you have a link you want to see featured in next week’s Wednesday Walk? Email Glenn!
- RIP Robin Williams, who died this week of end-stage bipolar disorder. It’s a story repeated too many times: the mania was what drove a lot of the performances he was praised for, while the depression was suffered largely in private. His daughter’s touching statement hints at a lot of good times in private too. Our lives are complicated, and no less so at the end.
- RIP Mike Brown. In an ideal world people strive to move toward, peace and justice could come to his family, and to other victims of police brutality.
- We’ve been promised wireless electricity in a lot of ways for a long time.
- The selfie belongs to the monkey. FYI: works produced by plants are not copyrightable.
- Speaking of which, a Scottish plant sculpture declares: I am Groot.
- Jason Greenhouse provides us with the first footage from the Saved by the Bell behind-the-scenes telefilm, for fans of children who don’t like each other.
- If you’re constructing a lair and would like to add some extra oomph to the décor, go ahead and give the beetle cabinet a shot. Maybe keep your makeup in there.
- A new restaurant in Toronto is staffed by deaf people and takes orders in sign language, aiming to employ people who might otherwise find it hard to find work, and maybe teach hearing people a few things as they follow the prompts. Pretty cool.
- James Brady, victim of a gunshot in 1981, died recently due to effects of that shooting, and so his death has been ruled as a homicide. Okay, prosecute John Hinckley again, why not. (Note: there are reasons not to.)
- Kids just have the best stuff now. It’s literally a sound track.
- In an experiment in flexibility, the Portsmouth Sinfonia had its members trade instruments and attempt to play a piece; this is the result and, spoiler, it’s kind of amazing.
- The genome of the domestic cat has been sequenced. Apparently cats haven’t had to make as many evolutionary adaptations as other species over long periods of time, including when they were domesticated, so large parts of their genome are very old indeed.
- I generally abhor big cities, but one of the highlights of visiting one is the super-talented street musician.
- BuzzFeed (yeah) highlights 24 people who hid mental health issues because employers often disregard them as “legitimate” reasons to need sick days.
- I will never not be fascinated by major/minor pieces performed in the other key. This week: The Star-Spangled Banner.
- Gillian Anderson’s supernatural thriller novel is nearly upon us.
- The NFL, and the world, would be made better by the addition of Weird Al.
- Do you have problems remembering what to capitalize in your titles? Help is on the way. (And yes, I know I’m violating that site’s rules on this very webpage. Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.)
