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, Interesting Bits, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) 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:
- Generating Fantasy Maps. “My links last week were a bit heavy, so this week I’m going to take on the lighter side of the Internet. First up, something I wish I’d had when I was a kid staying up late making D&D maps. A series of algorithms and procedures, in the web page, allows you to generate random maps with fantasy names, rivers, mountains, shorelines, and more. It’s mesmerising.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Night Café. “Ever wanted to collaborate with an AI on art? Sure you have! This site lets you upload a source picture, then type in a description of what you’d like to see. Machine learning algorithms take it from there, hallucinating weird original art inspired by your prompts. The results can be startlingly good, a strange mashup of psychedelia and painterly interpretation. My partner’s addicted to making tiny elf villages at 3 am, it seems. Free to try, but you get credits for more pictures if your work gets community approval.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- AI Generates Hypotheses Human Scientists Have Not Thought Of – Scientific American. “Using AI as a tool to help us think better about the future, I hope that’s how it all turns out.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- How to Fix Social Media – The New Atlantis. “Nicholas Carr on privacy, public speech, and how (maybe) to fix social media.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Leaving the cult of entrepreneurship: Intrapreneurs are the true drivers of innovation – Big Think. “We give to much credit to the entrepreneurs. That’s not an insult. It’s a desire to create a sense of equilibrium in a world that is heavily weighted to those who take on the full risk. Within organizations – every day… across the globe – are people who are working hard and building a better tomorrow. The only difference is that they are salaried employees (some, probably have additional benefits). The story of intrapreneurs is one that doesn’t get told often enough. It’s also a story that we don’t tend to hold high up on the pedestal of business lore. We probably should. How many great ideas and businesses have been born within an already established organization? It’s time to celebrate this type of work (and worker) with the same kind of headlines and enthusiasm that we give to those who go at it alone.” (Mitch for Alistair).
- 13 writing tips, from beloved teacher Anne Lamott – TED. “I shared this list in my private Facebook group for business and non-fiction writers earlier this week. The thing is that it has been marbling around in my brain ever since. How often does an article do that to you? Anne Lamott is both a writer’s writer and the author or many books for writers on the craft. If you have yet to read Bird By Bird and you’re a writer (or an aspiring one), I don’t know what to say. Here are some nuggets of pure gold. This is not just for writers. This is also for anybody thinking about how to improve their creative process. So… what are you waiting for? Write!” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.
Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends):