Heus !

Going with the dead language of Latin for today's greeting. How's your weekend going so far? Hope you're staying safe and enjoying life the best you can while we move into yet another month with Covid-19.

Also, this is a new newsletter and if you've enjoyed it or found any of it useful, please let your friends know so they can subscribe to it! And also, thank YOU for reading along too!

Onwards to the surprises this week!

Watch

Imagine peace leave stream

http://imaginepeacetower.com/

This week, tune into the small island off the coast of Reykjavik, Iceland where Yoko Ono installed a powerful beam of light to try and remind the world about peace.

Again it's another live stream that is open during the Icelanding night. There's some cool timelapses from the past with auroras dancing across the sky too!

Read

Are non-stick pans safe?

https://www.livescience.com/are-nonstick-pans-toxic.html

Is this a random enough topic or what? It is something that I've wondered about for a while so this quick summary that you can read in 5 mins was insightful.

While you might have guessed that the answer to the question is "yes" I didn't realise that there was a bit more nuance to answering the question.

The article does a great job of explaining what the issues are and who might be at risk. Read on if you're curious about these random everyday things...

Listen

Freakonomics: How to save $32million in an hour

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/nudge-london/

I don't think I ever really understood (or cared) about economics or why it's so important til someone recommended this podcast/book series. Since then, it's been one of those things that the more you learn about, the more you see the world in a very different light.

Consider this episode a little gateway drug into what the show is about: exploring the hidden side of everything (that's their tag line!).

This episode is about another interest of mine, nudge psychology. The episode explores how using subtle cues can dramatically alter your behaviour and how it's being used in the modern world (and not just for nefarious purposes!).

Gadgets & tech

Rechargeable candle/fire lighter

https://amzn.to/3jZvCU4

Ok...so I saw something like this on a Youtube video and it blew my mind that someone else had the same thought as me. There's one cooktop that doesn't quite ignite in my kitchen and I have an ugly lighter for it. Turns out, someone else had the some problem and found a USB rechargeable plasma arc lighter which does the job for that and candles!

Who knew that one day everything was going to be USB rechargeable?!

Anyway, this has now led to me looking up what other random everyday things could I get a nicer designer version of for not much money. The one featured above is relatively affordable given you wont have to get another one!

SEE ALSO

Some people keep asking about previous recommendations etc so I'm going to link a few that have come up in conversation in the last week below:

• Stilform Magnetic Fountain pens - Super cool fountain pen with the best lid for fidgeters like me. Just ordered this one and they are sending through yet another replacement for the old one they had. They're great with their lifetime warranties!
• Lumos helmet - These guys are nearly done with the crowd funding, so if you want one in some exclusive colours, time to get one!
• Wondermachines : Slow dance - truly one of those nice design gizmos to have around the house that you could just stare at all day....

PxR & Kickstarter update

PxR puzzle sample

https://www.photosbyraffy.com/shop

Well, I've finally cracked open the sample from the Australian manufacturer and gotten started on it. I can say that even after poring over the image, the puzzle is HARD! This one is also slightly bigger than the last sample.

I'm going to spend the next few days getting more of it done and modifying the image a bit so that the final version is ever so slightly more intuitive and easier to get started on.

That's the preliminary design of the box for the puzzle too! And also, the shop is finally set up and taking more pre-orders in case there is any further interest in the future!

Quote I'm pondering

"Those who do not want to imitate anything produce nothing at all"

―Salvador Dali

I quite like the surrealist paintings of Dali, especially because he was one of those artists that was famous when he was alive and had his life fairly well documented. He met with the various greats of his time and you can clearly see how the era shaped his thinking, his subconscious and therefore, his art.

This quote is just another reminder to me that most things are iterations that we build upon and even for a great artist such as Dali, he must've felt like he was copying more than creating. It's in that exact point when you are copying something that you start to find your own take on it...

Truly random

How are you finding the random section? Would love feedback if you liked this.

PerCapita Studio

Friends of mine have started their own design studio making very elegant, everyday designer goods. Their first release, Mass Properties, are striking pieces for your desktop. Here's how they describe it in their own words:

"Mass Properties is a set of modular sculptures designed to bring order and consistency to the spaces that play a part in our everyday life."

Jon Liow and his wife are the masterminds behind the studio and his design portfolio is quite impressive. So if you're after some truly elegant goods for your desk, check them out!

Random riddles

Here's last weeks riddle. It seems the interest in these has waned a bit so I'll put a pause on them for now and find some more truly random things to leave in here in the future!

Jesse’s two grandmothers want to see him every weekend, but they live on opposite sides of town. As a compromise, he tells them that every Sunday, he’ll head to the subway station nearest to his apartment at a random time of the day and will hop on the next train that arrives.

If it happens to be the train traveling north, he’ll visit his Grandma Erica uptown, and if it happens to be the train traveling south, he’ll visit his Grandma Cara downtown. Both of his grandmothers are okay with this plan, since they know both the northbound and southbound trains run every 20 minutes.

But after a few months of doing this, Grandma Cara complains that she sees him only one out of five Sundays. Jesse promises he’s indeed heading to the station at a random time each day. How can this be?

Solution

Although both trains come exactly every 20 minutes, the timing still matters: Suppose the northbound train comes on the hour, on the 20, and on the 40, so at 9:00, 9:20, 9:40, 10:00, etc., but the southbound train comes on the 4, 24, and 44, so 9:04, 9:24, 9:44, 10:04, etc.

This means in any hour, there will be only 12 minutes in which the southbound train will be the next train to arrive. That is, if Jesse arrives between 9:00-9:04, between 9:20-9:24, or between 9:40-9:44, he’ll get on the southbound train. Otherwise, he’ll get on the northbound train.

Since Jesse arrives at a random point every day (or equivalently at a random point in each hour), his chance of getting on the southbound train will be 12 out of 60, or one-fifth. And so that’s the answer: Both the northbound and the southbound trains arrive at the station every 20 minutes, but the southbound train always arrives 4 minutes after the northbound train.

Grandma Cara may be lucky, though. If the southbound train was scheduled to arrive only 1 minute after the northbound train, Jesse would only visit two to three times per year!

Thanks again for joining me on yet another week of randomness. What was your favourite bit this week?

Stay safe out there!

- Raffy

PS - Indonesion got sugessted for more Uber eats - will have to try next time! This week, I'd like to ask: do you have any random designer items around the house that you are glad you spent the money on? If so, what is it? Let me know!

Sunday Surprise uses affiliate/referral links in the newsletter. While this does not influence the product recommendations or verdict, if there are any that are likely to lead to Photos by Raffy receiving any sort of compensation from, they will be marked in orange. Non affiliate links will appear as blue.