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:
- Japanese basketball robot wows at half-time of USA-France game 👀 – MLG Highlights – YouTube. “Welcome, robot basketball overlords. In all seriousness, though, the Olympics has always been against doping and other enhancements. I’d be much more interested in watching an Olympics that pushed the limits of what’s possible in humans with prostheses and bionics, but that has problematic ethics and runs the risk of harming athletes. But how long until we move beyond Robot Wars and start seeing olympic sports? Whatever the case, the weird side-slide and uncanny precision of this robot is remarkable.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Yelp Helps Businesses Communicate Vaccination Requirements – Yelp. “This is interesting for a number of reasons. Ratings systems have become a target for brigades of opponents trying to coerce businesses into their way of thinking. Seeing this behaviour on social media is commonplace, but protests outside restaurants who ask patrons to mask, or get vaccinated, is new. Yelp‘s attempt to deal with this behaviour is proactive—but also marks a milestone in our online antagonism spilling over into the real world.” (Alistair for Mitch).
- WTF, Evolution?! – Flatworms -Tumblr. “Someone turned me on to an old blog: WTF evolution, so my links are from there: Here are penis jousting flatworms who battle to inseminate each other.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- WTF, Evolution?! – Sloths – Tumblr. “So sloths eat algae they grow in their own fur, and that algae lives on poop from moths that also live in the sloth’s fur.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- What’s in a name? The term ‘breakthrough infection’ raises doubts about vaccines, but it shouldn’t – CNN. “I hesitated to share this. Then, I sat here shaking my head. Even scientific journalism is now seen as political. It really is a sad state of affairs. I pushed on, and I’m sharing this. Everyone is now worried about ‘breakthrough infections’ (which is when someone gets covid even though they are fully vaccinated. Maybe that’s a good thing? ‘It’s simple math. Think of it like this: If 100% of people were vaccinated, then every new infection would have to be in a vaccinated person, right? But in that scenario, only a tiny number of people who died would die from Covid-19. More than 99% of the deaths we’re seeing now would almost certainly be avoided. Another way to make sense of the seemingly large numbers: If 1 million people are vaccinated against the make-believe virus ‘X’ and 1% get infected, that’s 10,000 infections in vaccinated people. But if 100 million people are vaccinated, and 1% get infected, that’s 1 million infections. Obviously 1 million is orders of magnitude larger than 10,000, but it is still the same proportion: 1%.’ Math and science and medicine seems too hard for too many people.’ In short, please read and share this article… there’s some science in here that I did not know/realize, and it seems like the science isn’t all that good when it comes to communications and marketing.” (Mitch for Alistair).
- Marvel and DC face backlash over pay: ‘They sent a thank you note and $5,000 – the movie made $1bn’ – The Guardian. “Your job – should you choose to accept it – is to create comic book characters. The salary is $X per year. What say you? This has been the employment agreement for many creators and artists in the comic book business since its inception. These comic book publishers take these characters, turn them into massive movies, license them off, toys, video games, and beyond. Should the creators get a slice of that action? There are valid arguments on both sides. With that, today is Free Comic Book Day. I hope you can head out to your local comic book shop (bring family and friends), pick up some free books, and note how much this amazing industry has changed since you were a kid. I promise, you will discover a new hybrid of art meets story that will suck you in. If you live in Montreal, I can recommend (in alphabetical order): Capitaine Quebec, Comic Hunter, Crossover Comics, Komico, and Pharcyde.” (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):