Dec 27, 2021

The Monday 6 − December 27, 2021

By Kyle Petzinger • Issue #40 • View online

Hi, friend!

This is the last Monday 6 of 2021. 🎉 I hope you and yours had a merry Christmas. 🎄

There are several spacey things in this 6. I hope you enjoy it!

1. The James Webb Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) launched on Christmas Day from French Guiana as you may have heard.

The telescope has been in the works for nearly 30 years, and is considered the spiritual successor to Hubble. Assuming all goes well, theoretically, it will be able to peer into the origins of the universe.

Over the next several weeks, it will unfurl to its full size as it travels to its final destination, millions of miles past the moon.

The telescope is an engineering marvel.

The following videos from Real Engineering, Smarter Every Day, and Vox all give varying levels of detail (I list them most detailed to least) on the project.

The Insane Engineering of James Webb Telescope

How Does The James Webb Space Telescope Work? - Smarter Every Day 262

Why the new space telescope looks so strange

Finally, you can follow along with the telescope’s progress at its official Twitter account, @NASAWebb. There are still several weeks (and many potential failure points…) left until it’s operational, but once it is, we’ll be able to see more than we ever have before.

@NASAWebb on Twitter

The latest Tweets from NASA Webb Telescope (@NASAWebb). NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will #UnfoldTheUniverse and show us things we’ve never seen before

twitter.com • Share

2. Ad Legend David Kennedy Dies

In the world of advertising David Kennedy, founder of the agency Wieden+Kennedy, was an icon. Advertising made Nike Nike, and Kennedy is the singular individual that made that the reality.

David Kennedy died in October and I just came across this piece from the New York Times that briefly chronicles his life.

David F. Kennedy, Whose Ad Agency Put Nike on the Map, Dies at 82 - The New York Times

Wieden+Kennedy, which he co-founded in Portland, Ore., broke from Madison Avenue tradition. Unlike many of its rivals, it has remained independent.

www.nytimes.com • Share

3. Is Omicron Milder?

The Omicron variant remains at the top of news cycles, but it seems we’re learning more and more every day.

If you’re like me, more and more people you know (vaccinated and unvaccinated) are contracting COVID. At this point, it feels like an inevitability. But, Omicron on balance may be good news.

Derek Thompson has a good wrap-up of the Omicron news focused on answering the primary question of “is Omicron milder?” The short answer is: probably. And that’s a good thing. But that comes with a lot of qualifiers. Give it a read.

The Big Omicron Unknown: Is It Milder? - The Atlantic

The mystery of the moment is very hard to solve. Here’s my best shot.

www.theatlantic.com • Share

4. The Sounds Of Jupiter's Moon Ganymede

Forgive the 3rd post from NASA’s Juno spacecraft (currently circling around Jupiter and its planets), but I just think the images (and now audio) coming back are so badass.

In this latest example, Juno flew by Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System, and captured audio of the journey.

Audio of Juno’s Ganymede Flyby

Juno flyby reveals stunning new images of Jupiter, sounds of its moon Ganymede

Flybys of Jupiter and its moon Ganymede conducted by the NASA Juno mission have revealed new Van Gogh-like images of the gas giant, as well as the sounds made by one of its moons.

www.cnn.com • Share

5. I Really Like This Soap

Dr. Squatch is a brand of natural soaps, deodorants, and hair care products that I decided to give a shot a few months ago. I’ve been really liking it!

I’ve tried a “natural” deodorant in the past and was quite unimpressed, but Dr. Squatch somehow manages to smell great and be effective.

I also just really like their branding.

They’re marketing directly to men, but if you look past the branding I think either gender would like their products.

Give ‘em a shot!

Organic Soap | Natural Soap | Handmade Soap - Dr. Squatch

Dr. Squatch provides organic and natural handmade soap to men who want to feel like a man, and smell like a champion.

drsquatch.com • Share

6. Clean Up Your Mac Menu Bar

My old Dell XPS 13 recently crapped out on me and I got a refurbished M1 MacBook Air.

This is my first personal Mac and I’ve been really enjoying it.

One gripe I’ve had, however, is that the menu bar cluttered quite easily. The app Bartender solves this exact problem.

Bartender is an award-winning app for macOS that superpowers your menu bar, giving you total control over your menu bar items, what’s displayed, and when, with menu bar items only showing when you need them.

Bartender ⎯ Take control of your menu bar

Bartender is an award-winning app for macOS that superpowers your menu bar, giving you total control over your menu bar items, what’s displayed, & when, with menu bar items only showing when you need them.

www.macbartender.com • Share

That’s it for this week. If you found anything useful or fun, let me know! And if you have any suggestions, shoot them my way. 😊 See you next week!

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By Kyle Petzinger

Every Monday, you'll receive the 6 articles, podcasts, tools, products, and more that I found interesting that past week.

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