š The Earth in Minecraft, Free Animated Icons, and Teddy Bear USB Hackers
Teddy Bears are hacking businesses?
Hey friends! How are you doing this week?
I hope you are doing well in this unprecedented turmoil. Things are crazy out there . . . Stay safe and stay at home as much as possible!
Weāre living in a weird time. Weāre all using Zoom despite its horrible privacy issues, and everyone is watching a show about rednecks, tigers, and a crazy lady named Carol.

Also, if youāre in the market for marketing software, this is the time to do it. Discounts are coming out left and right on all kinds of stuff. The Stock market is also pretty nuts too if youāre into that sort of thing.
Anyway, letās dig into this weekās topics. Grab those slippers, pour another cup of coffee, and plop on the couch.
š The Earth in Minecraft
Minecraft has achieved evergreen status in gaming culture. Yeah - itās years old and the graphics are blocky, but itās still going strong! I believe itās because Minecraft lets you craft your own world and story.
What if companies started creating their own Minecraft servers to attract attention? A Coke sponsored server where just showing up for a hour gets you a free coke? š¤ Could be pretty interesting . . . .
Anyway, Iāve been seeing Tiktoks about some kind of server where the whole earth is being recreated in Minecraft!
They used Google Earth and other data resources to create the world in blocky image.
āTheĀ terra 1-to-1 modĀ takes the information from Google Maps and other geographical data archives and compiles it to create the 1:1 scale of the Earth inĀ MinecraftĀ terrain generation,āĀ MinecrafterĀ PippenFTS, who is working on the project, said in YouTube video. āElevation data, tree cover data, roads, even climate data and soil suborder data, to make the planet Earth map as accurate to the real thing as possible.ā Source
Itās a very ambitious project, and thereās thousands of people involved. Honestly, I wouldnāt be surprised if people studied this project as an experiment in crowdsourcing.
Trying to move 1000ās of people to be focused and precise direction requires a lot of organization. Heck, you have to fill out an application to take part.
What will happen? Will it be a successful experiment in crowdsourcing work
Read more about the project at the link!
š Free Animated Icons!
How many times have you been in this situation?
Youāre building a new website and you want to make it interesting. Youāre scraping Pexels, Pixabay and Unsplash for free photos - and youāre scrolling through free icons on The Noun Project and Flat Icons. Youāre on a budget and wish you could give your website a little more pizzaz to impress people (and win their dollars), but you just donāt have the resources to do it.
I found this really cool deal on Appsumo. (No, I didnāt get paid to promote this at all). Itās 500 free animated icons, and you can use them for commercial purposes. Thereās some good free resources out there for icons, but I canāt say that Iāve found many with animated icons.
Itās the next step for spicing up things on your website with an interactive touch! Check it out at the link!
š§øUSB Hackers
Rule number one of USB Drives. If you donāt know it, donāt use it.
A few people made this mistake when they received gifts in the mail (teddy bears, gift cards) that included a USB drive. People plug in the USB based on whatever excuse was in the letter - and boom - they get wrecked with Malware.
A lot of people donāt realize that you can install malware on a USB drive. Hereās how it goes - and itās terrifying.
Basically, you plug in the USB, the computer thinks itās a trusted device and starts running scripts to install malware from the internet. Hereās a graphic from Bleeping Computer describing the process.

So, donāt use USB drives that you donāt trust! Read about it more at the link.
šThe Land of Random
I had a lot of time to wander the internet this week . . . Hereās what I got for you.
š± Screen - Screensharing Tool
Everyone is using Zoom, Skype, and Houseparty for video meetings, but what about when you need actual help? Your friend can only do so much through normal screensharing. Check out Screen! It lets you create screenshare meeting where the other person can work on your screen and help you with that stuff you just canāt figure out. Itās free during this time of uncertainty with Coronavirus.
šæ Aesthetic Stickers
Do you need some aestheticc stickers for your next moody creation? Hipsthetic compiled this epic list of vaporwave aesthetic style PNG/JPG images. Not sure how many of them you can use legally in a commercial setting, but they look pretty fun!
ā Get Verified
Everyone wants validation on social media. Thereās nothing more special than getting a little verified checkmark by your name. Satisfy your cravings with this hilarious little website by Jane Manchum Wong!
š·Masks go Mainstream
In other cultures, masks are culturally acceptable. Here in the United States, you could get a few weird stares in public (and maybe a cop called on you depending on where you live) if youāre wearing anything other than a blue surgical style mask. Itās a bit morbid given the Coronavirus Pandemic - I will gladly admit, but āhypebeastā style facemasks are going mainstream.
šStar Wars - Anime Style
This is by far one of the coolest Star Wars fan projects Iāve ever seen. Even if you donāt like Anime this is a really well-done video.