Weekly Digest

Slightly different look to the post this week thanks to Gordon’s article on how he automates his Weekend Reading posts. So I’ve followed his advice and use Workflow on iOS to save a few steps and quite a bit of time. Enjoy!

Life
Straight back in to work and it’s busy busy busy. Set yearly goals and hoping to deliver a few more than I managed last year.

Media
Sherlock…just not doing it for me this year.

Forza Horizon 3 on the Xbox One. Really enjoying it. Great gameplay, lots to do and it looks and sounds gorgeous.

Links

• Thanks Mom!
  On Christmas in 1995, I unwrapped a shiny new IBM Aptiva. Much to my delight, my mom had gifted me my first PC. Each time I’ve thought about my mom making this purchase, it’s been thru the lens of someone looking back in time.
  Love this post. Reminds me of my mum and dad getting me an Amstrad CPC for Christmas. Money was tight and they must have scrimped and saved to get it but I loved that machine and in many ways set me on a path.
• Apple’s 2016 in review
  This has been the winter of our discontent. 2016 was the year the tone changed. There’s always been a lot of criticism and griping about anything Apple does (and doesn’t do — it can’t win) but in 2016 I feel like the tone of the chatter about Apple changed and got a lot more negative.
  Excellent post and captures what many feel about Apple right now.
• Wind just generated more power than coal in the UK, for the first year ever
  During most years since the industrial revolution, the UK has relied on coal to produce the lion’s share of its energy (in the last 10, gas has been top some years, and coal others).
  Good to see our reliance on fossil fuels decreasing.
• Alexa: Amazon’s Operating System
  The concept of an operating system is pretty straightforward: it is a piece of software that manages a computer, making said computer’s hardware resources accessible to software through a consistent set of interfaces.
  Alexa won CES this year. VW & Ford are putting it in their cars, many vendors had integrated Alexa into their products and Amazon have a real leg up on their competitors with Alexa. Interesting times.
• How ‘Rogue One’s’ Princess Leia, Grand Moff Tarkin Were Created
  Bringing back the late Peter Cushing and 19-year-old Carrie Fisher for a story taking place before the 1977 “Star Wars” was a CGI challenge.
  Still found the CGI characters false and jarring in amongst the real actors. Do not like.
• That mystery Go player crushing the world’s best online? It was AlphaGo again
  DeepMind’s AlphaGo is back, and it’s been secretly crushing the world’s best Go players over the past couple of weeks. The new version of the AI has played 51 games online and won 50 of them, including a victory against Ke Jie, currently the world’s best human Go player.
  AI is taking over the world, one little step at a time.
• Mini Metros
  Love this – minimalist graphics of the worlds light rail systems.
• What Did And Did Not Happen In 2016 – AVC
  As has become my practice, I will end the year (today) looking back and start the year (tomorrow) looking forward. As a starting point for looking back on 2016, we can start with my What Is Going To Happen In 2016 post from Jan 1st 2016.
  Review of the year by Fred Wilson. His 2017 predictions are worth reading too.
• The Scottish pioneer whose plan for a basic income could transform Britain
  In the city where Adam Smith developed the free-market theories that inspired Thatcherism nearly 300 years later, a young Labour politician is pursuing an economic vision that takes a drastically different approach to “the wealth of nations”.
  Not sure if this will work but it’s worth trying and one could argue it’s better than what we’ve got now.
• First 10 Years of iPhone: How It Has Changed Our World
  The Legendary Intro 10 years ago from now, Steve Jobs introduced the original iPhone. I was luckily covering the event onsite.
  January 9th 2007. Time flies.
• Journey to Iceland
  @Shortstache full trip. Entire country of Iceland over 10 days.
• this is iceland
  I really need to book a trip to Iceland.