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:
- What is Distributed Denial of Secrets? – Backdrifting. “While the ground war in Ukraine is being fought with physical violence, there’s another happening online. From misinformation and propaganda, to disabling infrastructure, such attacks are harder to trace and know no borders. When the history of this conflict is written—and please let it be soon—one thing will be clear: Sanctions and borders are the stuff of governments, but hacking and public opinion are a different thing entirely, without a seat on the security council or clear lines of deterrence. In recent weeks, @micahflee listed the astonishing number of leaks hackers have published from Russia under the banner of Distributed Denial Of Secrets; here’s a bit of detail about the organization.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Your Feelings Are No Excuse – Margaret Atwood – The Atlantic. “Margaret Atwood won the Hitchens Prize this year, the sixth year the eponymous award was given to someone who walked, somehow, in Christopher Hitchens‘ irascible footsteps. Atwood is an unusual choice—the two were often on different sides of arguments—but she finds a common thread: We must discern truth from belief. She remarks in this piece that while climate change might be our most urgent, species-level concern, we need something else as a first step. Because if we can’t decide how to agree based on facts, rather than feelings, we won’t fix anything at all.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- The Argument for a Permanent Olympic City – Popular Science. “The latest installment of the Olympics in Covid restricted Beijing sure seemed strange. Maybe every Olympics seems strange too, this quadrennial sporting/construction pork event that puts cities in debt, and turns the lives of citizens upside down. If we were to focus on the sport, perhaps we could organize something saner, for instance a permanent Olympic City.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- The Impatience of Job – Slate. “Pick your doomsday poison: climate apocalypse, russo-ukraine nuclear threat, death-struggle betweem wokism and quasi-fascism. Oh, I forgot about pandemics. In retrospect, the first 20 years of my adulthood, ~1995-2015, sure seemed uneventful. These days it can feel positively Jobian, like we are all being tested cruelly by a capricious God. it might be a good time to return to the Book of Job – now with a new translation – and see if we can figure out what all this suffering is supposed to be about. Which is, maybe, nothing.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Grimes: Music, AI, and the Future of Humanity – Lex Fridman Podcast #281 – YouTube. “Some people know Grimes (or c) as a fascinating independent musician, others know her simply as an artist, others know her as the mother of Elon Musk’s kids (and, with all the media gossip, I – candidly – have no idea what their relationship status is). Ultimately, Grimes is a brilliant mind and a polymath. So, get past the cult of personality and check out this brain-bending conversation that she just had with Lex Fridman (and, if you’re not subscribed to Lex’s podcast, you really should be)… it will open your mind, get you thinking differently about technology, psychology, sociology, and there’s this deep sense of both hope and opportunity that is beautiful and perfect for these times. Don’t wait or save this conversation for later… dive on in…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- Comic Book Legend Neal Adams Has Died At 80 – Book Riot. “Maybe I am just getting older, and this is what happens (people die more often) or maybe it’s this Covid brain fog that has me super emotional (and a little down) at all of the talent that we seem to suddenly be losing. I’ve been buying a lot of concert tickets and thinking more about the experiences that I want to have (over the stuff) in my life. Neal Adams played a huge role in inspiring me. As a comic book nerd when I was a kid… to the present day (still collecting… and loving the medium). Neil would be on the Mt. Rushmore of comic books. Please don’t dismiss this as all spandex and capes with absurd stories… the complexity of constantly and consistently delivering a comic book is unimaginable, and yet legends like Neal Adams do this work – day in and day out. Here’s a brief overview of just how penetrating his creativity has been to our cultural zeitgeist. May his memory be a blessing… RIP Neal Adams…” (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)