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:
- How would you like to become immortal, starting today? – Undefined. “I have the secret to immortality. Turns out we’re doing pretty well, the three of us. And these posts, recorded over a decade, of our sharing links, may help. We can train an algorithm on a body of work, and have it parrot back variants of what we feed it based on statistics. And when we do, some smart humans think the resulting images are art, and think the resulting chat threads are consciousness. Odds our, your first chance at existing beyond the mortal grave is by creating a body of work that the machines can feed on. Six Links forever!” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Reality: A Post-Mortem – The New Atlantis. “This tour-de-force series by Jon Askonas in The New Atlantis tackles many things that have been on my mind lately, far more eloquently than I could. ‘The unity we felt watching the news unfold on TV gave way to the division we feel watching events unfold online.’ A pitch-perfect, centrist lament that takes both poles to task for turning our social divisions into an alternate reality game.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- Timothy Snyder – The Making of Modern Ukraine. Class 1: Ukrainian Questions Posed by Russian Invasion – YaleCourses – YouTube. “I’ve avoided posting anything about Ukraine, but this series of lectures from a Yale history prof about the history of Ukraine is useful context if Ukraine is the particular global crisis you’d most like learn more about.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- Photographing the Microscopic: Winners of Nikon Small World 2022 – The Atlantic. “Some amazing pics.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- The black market for blue checks – The Verge. “This type of activity shouldn’t even make me blink, but it always does. I’ve seen people try to use emojis to replicate a verified account. I’ve seen some people use words like ‘verified’ or ‘official’ in their username/handle to create the aura that their platform is the ‘authentic’ or verified one. So, should we be surprised that there is a black market for this? No. Should we be concerned that these accounts are often being hacked and sold as way to commit more nefarious activities? Probably.” (Mitch for Alistair).
- How much trouble is Mark Zuckerberg in? – The Economist. “Look it, I have no idea whether or not Mark Zuckerberg’s version of ‘what’s next’ or ‘the metaverse’ will be the right way we use technology. I do know how easy it is to armchair quarterback all things ‘metaverse’ by being a cynic. The truth is that no one ever thought they would need a computer in their home… then a portable computer… then a mobile phone… then email on their phone… and the list just keeps on going. We praise entrepreneurs for placing big begs on what the future may hold. I’ve lived enough of a life to never underestimate the wildest of ideas. So, is Zuck in trouble? Whether you think he is… or you think he’s not… he’s still thinking about the future of tech and willing to bet his vast fortunes on how this might play out. It’s very interesting to watch… and to live through it.” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.