Things of note for the week ending Sunday November 13th, 2016.
Many things to cover off this week. Seven, at a minimum.
Shall we?
THING ONE: THE LONDON NECROPOLIS RAILWAY
Ever hear about the train track for the dead? No? Allow me to enlighten you:
In operation from 1854 to 1941, the London Necropolis Railway was the spookiest, strangest train line in British history. It transported London’s dead south-west to Brookwood Cemetery, near Woking, in Surrey, a cemetery that was built in tandem with the railway. At its peak, from 1894 to 1903, the train carried more than 2,000 bodies a year.
It also transported their families and friends. Guests could leave with their dearly departed at 11:40am, attend the burial, have a funeral party at one of the cemetery’s two train stations (complete with home-cooked ham sandwiches and fairy cakes), and then take the same train back, returning to London by 3:30pm.
Amazing.
And guess what else? The station still operates today (only with less dead people).
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THING TWO: FINNISH EDUCATION
This week in interesting education news, Finland is looking like the first country to completely abolish school subjects.
Look:
The head of the Department of Education in Helsinki, Marjo Kyllonen, explained the changes:
“There are schools that are teaching in the old-fashioned way which was of benefit in the beginning of the 1900s — but the needs are not the same, and we need something fit for the 21st century.“
Instead of individual subjects, students will study events and phenomena in an interdisciplinary format. For example, the Second World War will be examined from the perspective of history, geography, and math. And by taking the course â€Working in a Cafe,” students will absorb a whole body of knowledge about the English language, economics, and communication skills.
This I find thoroughly interesting. Especially as Finland’s education system is already considered to be one of the best in the world. Why rest on laurels?
Education. It’s important.
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THINGS THREE: BEAGLE 2
Remember Beagle 2?
The lost British Mars lander that failed to do, well, anything after attempting to land on our distant red cousin of a planet back in 2003? If you’ve been following the story you may even recall that ten years later, NASA spotted it on the surface and the little lander had finally been discovered.
Well, the work didn’t stop there. After studying NASA’s images, and recreating what they could see using 3D printers, it turns out Beagle 2 was much closer to success than we originally thought.
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THING FOUR: CLOWNS
No image here. Just a link: the case for not being scared of clowns.
Related: my favourite clown-related joke ever.
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THING FIVE: STORIES OF USE
Work in social? Getting hassled by your clients to tell them / convince about Instagram stories [and why they should/shouldn’t partake]? Then you need this really useful help manual, from Instagram itself, that you should lift freely from and pretend your amazing overview deck is all your own work.
Go on, off you pop.
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THING SIX: SNAP SNAP
They’re heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeereeeeeee….
I said back in edition #194 that I thought the first hardware from Snap Inc., aka ‘Spectacles’, would be an interesting swerve for media creation and now, at last, they’re out for people to purchase. Alas, you can only purchase them in person and via Snap’s own travelling vending machine.
The Verge has a ton more on this (with a few good videos too), so you should go read that.
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THING SEVEN: SNAPCHAT / FACEBOOK FLASH
I’m not kidding. Facebook has made Snapchat. Like, actually and properly. WHAT.
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Bonuses this week are about the state of the world today:
- Jonathan Pie is an acquired taste at the best of times. This on ‘Trump: How and Why?’ is actually really good. Give it a watch.
- Azeem Azar’s always excellent Exponential View has a really good provocation this week re: Facebook’s role on the election. My favourite thing on this topic of Facebook’s ongoing mission to convince brands they can influence purchaser decisions through content / Facebook advertising is directly contradicted by its claim that they had no influence on the election result whatsoever (eloquently put in this tweet).
- My writing partner at Ogilvy, Marshall Manson, put these reflections together – they’re well worth a read.