TLDR 2021-12-28

Baidu has launched its own version of the metaverse called Xi Rang. The world will be accessible through smartphones and computers, not just with VR headsets. Xi Rang currently offers a central city, the ability to interact with avatars, creation tools, and a place for people to gather for entertainment. It is still in development and more features are expected in the near future. A video that shows the world inside Xi Rang is available in the article.

LG Display has unveiled several new concepts that will be on display at CES 2022. The OLED Shelf consists of two transparent OLED displays mounted on top of each other to display art or media on top of shelves. Show Window is a set of four displays that can be used to play media in shop windows. The Shopping Managing Showcase is a display for luxurious department stores to display items and graphics that highlight certain parts of the products. Smart Window is a transparent OLED screen for video calls or presentations in the office. Pictures of some of the concepts are available in the article.

A type of freshwater fish called sulfur mollies have the ability to work together in groups to create waves. The behavior is used to protect the fish from predatory birds. It was easy for scientists to study as the fish react to humans in the same way. There can be hundreds of thousands of fish participating in a single fish wave. The waves can be repeated for up to two minutes at a frequency of every three to four seconds.

Gibraltar is reviewing a proposal for blockchain firm Valereum to acquire the Gibraltar Stock Exchange. The purchase will allow the territory to serve as a platform to trade cryptocurrency alongside more traditional bonds. If allowed, the territory could become a center for the cryptocurrency market. However, loose regulations may result in potential diplomatic sanctions.

The Maui Shell is a new convergent Linux shell that aims to work on both mobile and desktop. It is still a work in progress, but there are some usable builds available. This article provides a short preview of Maui Shell. Screenshots of Maui Shell's desktop and mobile modes are available.

Bingo is a package manager for golang binaries. It keeps a link between installed binaries and source packages. With Bingo, users can update binaries using the name of the binary, install binaries to any location, control the name of installed binaries, and install multiple versions of the same package.

Some pretty wild architecture popped up in 2021. This article highlights 10 projects from around the world that offer something a little different. Entries include a house with a built-in skateboard ramp, a building that looks like a mirrored mixing bowl, an ultra-thin skyscraper, and a 100-foot-high sky pool between two high-rise buildings.

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Art Chaidarun recorded all of their daily activities for over 10 years to be self-aware and create balance in their life. They started by using a spreadsheet but later went on to create their own Android app as it would be more accurate and could track geolocation data. This article details their findings from the experiment. A link to the APK for the Android app is available.