#014: How Touchscreens Work, Why Football Passes Seem Physically Impossible, and Correction from Last Week..

Hi All!

We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com.

This edition is helped in part by the support of Boot.dev. Be sure to check them out in the P.S. for a special signup offer and more information. Let's jump into this week's finds:

We made a mistake...

Last week in our newsletter, we featured the insanely viral video 'There are Exactly 14 games of Tic-Tac-Toe'. It turns out that upon further review, this was incorrect.

Hilariously titled, 'Actually, Maybe There's Only 1 Game of Tic-Tac-Toe', Marc Evanstein does a similar comparison and analysis of where he got things wrong in the first video, and what he learned from the feedback of nearly 2.3 million viewers.

Worth a watch especially if you're interested in custom Python scripts and deep dives into absurd topics.

What Rockefeller Wrote to His Son

​John D. Rockefeller is widely regarded as one of the wealthiest and most successful American businessmen of all time. He is known for founding and leading the Standard Oil Company, founding the University of Chicago, and his many philanthropic efforts.

One of my favorite podcasts is Founders by David Senra, and in this tweet he compiled a list of 40 things Rockefeller wrote to his son. We should read and follow many of these lessons, but here are a few of my favorites that I believe apply to how we can communicate with others more effectively:

9. Match people by their enthusiasm.

12. The important thing is that you firmly believe that you are your greatest capital.

29. Too many people overestimate what they lack and underestimate what they have.

How do touchscreens work?

It's something we use every day, but few of us probably know the intricacies of what's going on 'behind the curtain' (or screens) of our smartphones. In this original video from our YouTube channel, you can watch a short clip explaining the engineering and magic behind our devices.

Be sure to subscribe to the channel if you're interested in watching quick, educational content like ours more often!

10 Rules for Students and Teachers from John Cage

​John Cage was an American composer and music theorist, who critics have deemed as one of the most influential musical figures of the 20th century. I noticed a tweet from @noampomsky that featured of list of Cage's that read, '10 Rules for Students and Teachers'. Much like the Rockefeller list above, I found some gems. My favorite of the bunch:

Rule #8: Do not try to create and analyze at the same time. They're different processes.

Why American Football passes seem physically impossible

The American Football postseason is in full swing, which means it's only appropriate to talk about the counterintuitive physics involved in throwing a forward pass.

Vox breaks it down in this quick 5-minute video, which explores the role of gravity, the football's reference axis, and more! It's the perfect way to start your early Super Bowl prep and have a better understanding of the game.

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Always wishing you the best,

J.B.