Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?
My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, Pandemonio, and ResolveTO, Author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see”.
Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:
- Embracing the Kobayashi Maru- Why You Should Teach Your Students to Cheat – Gregory Conti and James Caroland. “As any Trekkie will tell you, the Maru is an unwinnable game that Kirk decided to cheat at. I’ve been working on a new book — Just Evil Enough — that preaches a similar gospel: You need to be subversive to get a better return on your efforts than everyone else. Here’s a convincing argument for teaching students to think slightly evil, even when they’re trying to do good.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- These Gloves Can Teach You to Play the Piano. And Maybe Heal Your Brain – FreeThink. “Last week was Startupfest, which has become a global international event in Montreal now. And one of the speakers was Thad Starner, someone I’ve idolized for decades. A pioneer of wearable computing, he worked with Sergei Brin on Google Glass and constantly pushes the edges of human-computer interaction. Backstage, he pointed me at a recent research project: Gloves that can teach you to play piano–and maybe help people recover from a stroke–through vibrations. Amazing to see what science pushes up against.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- “I was devasted” – Tim Berners Lee, The Man Who Created The World Wide Web, Has Some Regrets – Vanity Fair. “Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, is now trying to save the web from itself.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- Bad Romance – To cash in on Kindle Unlimited, a cabal of authors gamed Amazon’s algorithm – The Verge. “Intrigue and conspiracies in the land of self publishing kindle romance authors!” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Have the Tech Giants Grown Too Powerful? That’s an Easy One – The New York Times Magazine. “In a word: Yes. Still you need to scratch deep beneath the surface here (as this article does). I believe that we are in unchartered territories. When the head of Amazon is now worth more than $150 billion (that’s wealthier than any human in modern history), we – as a society – should be asking tougher questions of these companies. And, if indeed these companies are too powerful, do we use traditional rules of law to adjust? That doesn’t make much sense, does it?” (Mitch for Alistair).
- Amazon’s Curious Case of the $2,630.52 Used Paperback – The New York Times. “Guess what’s happening here. Two options. Option number one: this is the best (and rarest) book our world has ever seen. Option number two: the algorithms are at play here. Algorithms are supposed to solve many modern day issues, right? If they can’t get this pricing done, how confident are you feeling about their ability to handle things like your personal finances, insurance, healthcare and more?” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.