🐱‍💻 Relive Windows XP, 3D Printed Drinks, and Make Awesome Flowcharts

The Joys of the ole Windows XP - Back to Life

Hey everyone! How are you doing? 😀

We crossed 550 subscribers last week. Woohoo! 🚀

I’m so grateful to all of you for subscribing and reading, and for the emails that some of you send over. I always love reading them!

As I might have mentioned in months past, my goal is to try and reach 1,000 subscribers this year. If you’re willing, share an issue with your friends, family, or anyone else who might enjoy The Land of Random. Just click the button, and share!

Oh - before we get started with today’s issue - Do I have any readers who live in Malaysia? If so, please go try this fascinating McDonald’s creation. 😱 The Sea Salt Mcflurry. I neeed to know what this tastes like.

Doesn’t it look DELICIOUS? 🤣 I’m a sucker for trying strange things - but honestly -salt and ice cream do work well together - like Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream. So good!

Don’t get me started on my craving for salt bagels.

Well, without any further ado, let’s hop on into today’s topics, shall we? Grab your Sea Salt Caramel Latte and let’s go!

👻Relive Windows XP In Your Browser

Ah! The good ole days of Windows XP. Minesweeper. Winamp. Flash. Quicktime. games you could play for free for two hours.

Heck, support for XP only ended in 2014 - about 12 years after it came out. There are so many XP machines still running out there that Microsoft released an emergency patch last year due to some viruses.

Well, you can go back in time to the beautiful days of Windows XP. Right Now.

It’s one of the most beautiful projects I’ve ever seen. There’s so much functionality. Paint Works, Winamp works, and so much more! When links don’t work, it even has the error message pop up with the iconic little ding.

It’s been years since I’ve touched a computer with Windows XP installed. I miss it!

Go check it out for a few minutes. It’s so much fun. I’m not sure who built it, but they put a lot of time and work into this project - and I’m so thankful for it.

🤔 3D Printed Drinks

Alright - so you’ve seen the water bottle that dispenses flavor into your drink, you’ve used the flavor sticks, beadlets, and other inventions that companies keep spinning up.

However - what about flavor that is printed on the cup itself. That’s the idea behind Smart Cups. The cup contains the energy drink. 😱 This ain’t no 3D printed chocolate.

This is 3D printed energy!

Here’s a gif from their site that demonstrates the process. It’s really cool!!!!

That’s a whole new spin - and it takes up less space than traditional beverages (and the cup is made of bioplastic!) Here’s a statement from their site.

Smart Cups is a sustainability-driven technology company with a mission to provide a mindful path forward for the beverage industry and beyond. Having created the world’s first printed beverage, an energy drink, Smart Cups eliminates the need to bottle and ship liquids, which, in turn, significantly reduces our carbon footprint. To put that into perspective, a truck that would ordinarily carry 96,000 12 oz cans of soda, can instead carry 1.2 million Smart Cups thanks to the stackable, waterless design. This translates to a reduction of shipping weight and in turn reduction of CO2 emissions. (Source)

Pretty neat, eh? I think Smart Cups is on to something here. As someone who loves a good energy drink and eco friendly solutions - this is a very unique solution. Even better, their energy drink is a purchasable proof of concept. Smart Cups has dreams to take this concept mainstream. I hope they get traction!

It’s $8.99 for a pack of 5 cups. I’m probably going to order a package at some point to see what they taste like.

Check out their site at the link.

😀Make Awesome Flowcharts

Get outside the box. Write outside the lines. Think bigger - That’s where many of my best ideas come from. Opening a blank Google Doc or Google Sheet can work, but the next level is creating visual thought flows.

I discovered a pretty cool site called Whimsical that features some awesome tools. Flowcharts, Mind Maps, Sticky Notes, and Wireframes.

Usually - most websites only have one of these - but Whimsical? it has ALL THREE, and Wireframes too!

Trying to get started with creative thinking?

Flowcharts - great for thinking through funnels, customer journeys, customer touchpoints, stories, and many other things.

Mind Maps - Great for plotting out ideas and mapping their relationships. If you’re stuck on a difficult project/goal - mind mapping the issues can be very useful.

Sticky Notes - great for writing out a ton of ideas.

Check it out at the link! 😀

🐙The Land of Random

Random links? Yes! It’s time!

Wooden Supercar

Yes. This Supercar is made of wood. It’s the only one of its kind of the world. Wow!

Little Nightmares

Super creepy yet fascinating looking Steam game. Worth a look! It’s one of those dark atmospheric yet philosophical games.

A Most Entertaining Complaint

This traveler wrote to Richard Branson (owner of Virgin Airlines) to complain about his plane experience. It’s one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever read. Check it out if it’s the only link you click on today. Here’s a taste.

“Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at thehands of your corporation.”

You’ve Got Spam

The folks over at MSCHF have created a very mischievous too. Struggling with cold email spam? This tool lets you spam ‘em back. Use cautiously and responsibly.

Animaniacs Returns!

Yay. I remember watching these as a kid. WOOHOO!

Mandalorian Shoes

Can’t say I’m surprised but Adidas is making Mandalorian themed shoes. I’m glad I’m on a budget.

We’re being locked in

A fascinating look at how software that we use is increasingly locking us into ecosystems.

🎵TikToks You Can’t Miss

Don’t get caught by the Not Deer

Ah, the insufferable hellscape of Pandemic Life

Feeling some Monty Python Vibes here

Yes! The VIBES of Hold Music

Honestly I see that cart and I’m jealous. I love cheese

Fantastic brand response to a question

Dope Mobile Homes? Tempted.

Well, that’s all for this issue of The Land of Random. See you next week! 😊