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:
- If they made a show called “White Mirror” that was about all the positive aspects of the human/technology relationship, what would be the plot of certain episodes? – Reddit. “I had other things to share, but Jeremy Edberg pointed me at this amazing Reddit thread. I’ve been writing short fiction a bit lately, and most of it, when it comes out of my head, is depressing and terrifying. Like, I thought for a week, wrote for twelve minutes, finished a short story and sat shaking and wanting to wash my hands. The first line was ‘I was seven when my parents deleted my dog.’ Well, it turns out other people don’t like the doom and gloom. So, this thread is about all the good things technology could do, in response to the dismal future that Charlie Brooker has cooked up in Black Mirror. I’d watch that.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Flashmob recreates Rembrandt painting in Dutch shopping centre – The Guardian. “A great example of marketing done right. Imagine the coordination required for this–and the courage to pull it off.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- We Measured Trump’s First Year According To His Own Goals. Here’s What We Found – FiveThirtyEight. “After the US election in 2016, Mitch, Alistair and I made a rule amongst ourselves, which was: no links about infuriating politics, especially about a certain leader of a significant North American country. All of us get enough of that elsewhere. I am on the wrong side of these rules, if you read them to the letter. But I think I am OK in spirit, because this isn’t a political link, it’s a data link. It contains a host of fascinating charts (about, eg: manufacturing employment, oil production, trade deficits, number of uninsured, etc) and analysis that show not just what has happened under the current administration, but how that data fits into the context of historical trends. A main finding: if you want to put more people out of work, elect a Bush.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- The enduring appeal of conspiracy theories – BBC. “We live in the age of conspiracy theories. Here’s why they won’t go away.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- Tackling the Internet’s Central Villain: The Advertising Business – The New York Times. “If it wasn’t for advertising (or, the advertising business) we would not have any of the issues that we have in terms of fake news, cyber-bullying, the dark net, over-bloated social media networks by the billions, everyone selling stuff, selfies, and… everything else? Well, here’s one way to make me want to question my very existence…” (Mitch for Alistair).
- The shift is real and it’s forever (books by the numbers) – The Domino Project. “For the book nerds out there (you know who you are!). What does the book publishing world really need? Take a read and find out…” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.