A weekly selection of what I was reading, drawing, writing, and doing.

Holiday gift guide time!

I like eclectic gift ideas and here are three I came across last week: one from Semi-Rad, this one from Chuck Wendig, and finally Austin Kleon’s studio gifts.

Singapore and the darkside of a techno-utopia:

This is a fascinating look into how Singapore continues to be the earliest and broadest adopter of most new technologies and the dark side of their surveillance state.

The country has “an almost uncritical faith in technology,” Adrian Kuah, a professor in public policy at the National University of Singapore, told Rest of World. “The history of the nation is written using the language of vulnerability and insecurity, and having to be one, five, 10 steps ahead of the competition.”

Singapore’s tech-utopia dream is turning into a surveillance state nightmare

The mind-bending math behind Pixar movies:

Ok this isn’t really about Pixar but it is SO COOL. Just go here and play around with all the interactive models to get a sense about how crazy making virtual visuals really is.

Curves and Surfaces

The children should have a vote:

I’ve never thought about this before but the author makes a very convincing argument. I’m all for it!

Votes for children! Why we should lower the voting age to six

Quote I enjoyed last week:

The invention of the ship was also the invention of the shipwreck.

Paul Virilio

What I wrote and drew about this week:

What I did, was reminded of, or was thankful for last week:

• I’ve been gaming more lately with the kids, and the newest rotation is (surprise) Minecraft mixed with the familiar favorites of Animal Crossing (for my daughter) and the not-so-great Ben 10 side-scroller from a couple years back (for my son). I’m still playing Metroid Dread but have also started playing Halo again (Infinite multiplayer) and it is so good to be back.
• Last week we walked through the streets of our village alongside a Santa in a red Mercedes. The holiday season has officially begun.

Last but not least, check out what I’m up to now.