Category: Blog

Life
A reflective week thanks to a funeral on Friday. Apart from that, mostly quiet and thankfully no travel.

Media
Taboo came to an end this week – strong series so hopefully another will appear at some point. SS-GB looked great but not much happened so expect much tonight. Looking forward to some Zelda next week and the new Switch.

Links

• Reflecting on one very, very strange year at Uber — Susan J. Fowler
  As most of you know, I left Uber in December and joined Stripe in January.
  I’ve gotten a lot of questions over the past couple of months about why I
  left and what my time at Uber was like. It’s a strange, fascinating, and
  slightly horrifying story that deserves to be told while it is still fresh
  in my mind, so here we go. 
  Uber are quite the disgusting company. Susan Fowlers brave post has exposed what many had suspected. The real question, is this reality at other tech firms as well never mind more traditional industries?
• An Open Letter to The Uber Board and Investors – Medium
  By now a staggering number of people recognize the name of Susan Fowler and have read some account of her experiences of sexism, sexual harassment and horrendous management at Uber. So what explains…
  Uber have a real problem which they haven’t really addressed almost a week after Fowlers blog post.
• 4chan: The Skeleton Key to the Rise of Trump – Medium
  Around 2005 or so a strange link started showing up in my old webcomic’s referral logs. This new site I didn’t understand. It was a bulletin board, but its system of navigation was opaque. Counter…
  A look into the strange world that got Trump elected.
• to the people I know who know Milo – Medium
  There are lots of people of my acquaintance who have known Milo for a long time, through his many shape-shifting phases. Many of them have pardoned him a range of sins and excesses —transgressions…
  Bobbie Johnson on Milo the shape shifter.
• On the Milo Bus With the Lost Boys of America’s New Right
  What happens when a movement of gamers recognizes they’re not players, but pawns?
  Laurie Penny on Milo and his entourage.
• Meet the 16-year-old Canadian girl who took down Milo Yiannopoulos – Vox
  How a 16 year old broke the story that ended Milo.
• The rise and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos – how a shallow actor played the bad guy for money | World news | The Guardian
  Like Donald Trump, Yiannopoulos grew out of a grotesque convergence of politics and the internet, and thrived by turning hate speech into showbusiness
  So we finally found there is a line that right wing American’s can’t cross, and that no amount of apologies and bullshit from Milo Yiannopoulos could talk his way out of it. I’m sure he’ll carry on in some way or another…just can’t help himself.
• Manifestos and Monopolies – Stratechery by Ben Thompson
  Thompson makes the case that Facebook shouldn’t be allowed to buy another network app although I think the social graph portability is more important.
• I Was a Muslim in the Trump White House—and I Lasted Eight Days – The Atlantic
  When President Obama left, I stayed on at the National Security Council in order to serve my country. I lasted eight days.
  Sobering.
• Why Nothing Works Anymore – The Atlantic
  Technology has its own purposes.
  Can too much tech makes things worse? Maybe.
• Post-Olympic Abandonment – A blog by TMD studio – Medium
  Bringing the Olympics to your country, whether in summer or winter, is a costly business. Just ask the recent hosts. The games set back Sochi $51 billion, London $11.6 billion and Beijing at least…
  So sad to see these great abandoned buildings and well played to London for bucking the trend. Brazil already looks to be a mess.
• Mexico’s sugar tax leads to fall in consumption for second year running | Society | The Guardian
  Health experts are watching the progress of the tax to see if it will lower the rates of obesity-related diseases and type 2 diabetes
  Can’t come soon enough to the UK although still don’t understand why it’s only on drinks.
• Bill Paxton, actor known for Aliens and Titanic, dies aged 61
  Game Over Man, Game Over! Sad to see Bill Paxton pass away today.
• Finding Radiohead’s most depressing song, with R | R-bloggers
  Radiohead is known for having some fairly maudlin songs, but of all of their tracks, which is the most depressing? Data scientist and R enthusiast Charlie
  You say depressing, I say best.

Life
Good friend of my Mum’s passed away this week, funeral next week but will remember her help and support during my Dad’s illness. Less travel this week but more tired – was knackered at the end of the week. Spent the weekend pottering and catching up on TV and film. Also tweaked how this post is put together. Instead of Pocket I’m now using Pinboard which allows me to auto populate this post with bookmarks that I’ve specifically tagged saving me a bit of sort time…every little helps.

Media
Enjoying Legion and the production is excellent. Intrigued to see where this goes. Also caught up with Doctor Strange which was OK if a bit predictable.

Links

• How Planet Earth II filmed its thrilling “Snake Island” chase scene – Vox
  Capturing the terrible thrills of life and death in the animal kingdom, explained.
  Still jaw dropping.
• Helping You See Outside Your Bubble
  A new feature on some of our most widely shared articles…
  Interesting addition by Buzzfeed – we are all in a bubble of our choosing.
• Apple Vowed to Revolutionize Television. An Inside Look at Why It Hasn’t – Bloomberg
  The company is testing a new Apple TV capable of streaming ultra-high-definition 4K. It may not be enough to take on Amazon and Roku.
  I like my Apple TV but Amazon Fire can do more, my TV streams in 4K which the Apple TV doesn’t and this will probably cost more than anything else on the market.

• How Ben Thompson built Stratechery into a one-man publishing empire – Recode
  “The internet enables niche in a massively powerful way.”
  Stratechery is a great site and podcast.

• Here’s What TfL Learned From Tracking Your Phone On the Tube | Gizmodo UK
  EXCLUSIVE! Giz UK can exclusively reveal some of the amazing things that TfL discovered by tracking the wifi on our mobile devices.
  Some interesting data mining.

• Stan Smith Knows You Think He’s Just a Sneaker
  He’s no Serena Williams, but he scored big in footwear.
  Story behind the shoes, interesting read.

• Arrival: A Response To Bad Movies – YouTube
  Arrival, only recently watched, was a great film and this is a good tribute.
• Comercial Toyota C-HR Street Fighter II (Espetacular!!!!) – YouTube
  One for the older gamer.

• Eulogy to Gordon Aikman – February 18th 2017 – Kezia Dugdale MSP
  Eulogy to Gordon Aikman – February 18th 2017 Kezia Dugdale MSP MSP for Lothian and Leader of the Scottish Labour Party
  Moving tribute to Gordon Aikman from Kezia Dugdale.

• Should you take your phone to the United States? – BBC News
  Should you visit the United States?

• A Computer to Rival the Brain – The New Yorker
  Time for the CPU to think differently.

• Employers are going soft: the skills companies are looking for | World Economic Forum
  Following on from a similar post I linked to last week, I’m really starting to think more around softer or non-cognitive skills, whats important and how to build a team with these skills.

• Health cuts most likely cause of major rise in mortality, study claims | Society | The Guardian
  Government rebuts verdict that NHS and social care cuts may have caused 30,000 excess deaths in England and Wales 2015
  Shocking but no real surprise.

• Is Finland’s basic universal income a solution to automation, fewer jobs and lower wages? | Society | The Guardian
  It’s not just Glasgow looking into universal income as a modern day solution.

• CRS-10 | Falcon 9 First Stage Landing
  Spectacular and awe inspiring…but needs some You Only Live Twice from Bond as a soundtrack.

Life
The travel continued with a drive through to Rosyth and then Barrow the next day. Long days meant a quiet and relaxing weekend. The trips were really worthwhile, left a positive impression and got me thinking about some changes at work. Nothing big, just time to shake things up a little.

Media
Finally caught up on Arrival this week. Stunning film, proper grown up science fiction without relying on special effects and asking the audience to think a little.

Links

• Why Nobody Cares the President Is Lying
  MILWAUKEE — If President Trump’s first tumultuous weeks have done nothing else, at least they have again made us a nation of readers.
  Facts. We saw it with Brexit, saw it in recent elections and now Trump and his team are masters of it – repeat your story and be damned with the facts cause it’s lost on the masses. Sigh.
• Donald Trump visit opposed by Commons speaker
  MPs applauded the speaker of the House of Commons for declaring he would not choose to invite President Trump to Parliament. John Bercow said the valued the relationship with the US, but would oppose inviting the president to address MPs and Lords in Westminster.
  Can’t stand Bercow but well said Sir, well said.

• The Dark Knight: Visual Echoes
  This videoessay compares the influence and references to Michael Mann’s Films in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Nolan actually screened Michael Mann’s “Heat” for all his department heads before going into production, he say once: “I always felt ‘Heat’ to be a remarkable demonstr
  Love both films but hadn’t realised they shared so much.

• What Vizio was doing behind the TV screen
  Consumers have bought more than 11 million internet-connected Vizio televisions since 2010. But according to a complaint filed by the FTC and the New Jersey Attorney General, consumers didn’t know that while they were watching their TVs, Vizio was watching them.
  Shocker. Thinking I should disconnect my TV from the internet and just use boxes that I trust.

• Sad to announce: Hans Rosling passed away this morning
  We are extremely sad to announce that Professor Hans Rosling died this morning. Hans suffered from a pancreatic cancer which was diagnosed one year ago. He passed away early Tuesday morning, February 7, 2017, surrounded by his family in Uppsala, Sweden.
  Saddened by the passing of Hans Rosling. A couple of my favourite Ted talks were by him. Loved the passion, clear speaking and graphics he used to make data come alive.

• ABC News on Twitter
  Tim Cook condemns immigration order in Glasgow speech. “If we stand and say nothing, it’s as if we’re agreeing.” http://abcn.ws/2kKjUir
  Cook was in Glasgow to receive an honorary degree from my alma mater and had some important things to say on Trumps muslim ban.

• Full Frontal on Twitter
  We sent @Amy_Hoggart to Scotland to discuss resisting oppression with people who are born crotchety. #SamanthaBee
  Trump is a cunt…and a bawbag.

• This Teen Hacked 150,000 Printers to Show How the Internet of Things Is Shit
  On Saturday, February 4, 2017, a self-described “pissed off high school student” in the United Kingdom sat in front of his computer, listening to Bones and Yung Lean, coding a rootkit, a set of software tools that allows an unauthorized user to control a computer system.
  Don’t piss of a geek.

• Piers Morgan & Jim Jefferies: The Lesser of Two Evils | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
  Subscribe to the Real Time YouTube: http://itsh.bo/10r5A1BBill’s request for an apology from the people who said Hillary Clinton was the lesser of two evils leads to a confrontation between Daily Mail editor Piers Morgan and comedian Jim Jefferies.Connect with Real Time Online:Find Real Time on Face
  Fuck off Piers.

• The Evolution Of Keanu Reeves In Movies
  As big fans of the first John Wick, we are excited about the sequel, and we thought it would be fun to take a look back at Keanu’s career. Party on, dudes!New videos every month!http://burgerfiction.comhttp://twitter.com/burgerfiction
  He’s hardly aged.

• One Woman’s Brilliant “Fuck You” to Wikipedia Trolls
  The “fuck you” project crystallized one Friday night last year. As Emily Temple-Wood video-chatted with friends, an email pinged in her inbox: The note came from someone with a history of harassing the 22-year-old medical student. This man hates women, Temple-Wood thought to herself.
  Great response to some horrible abuse.

• Has Facebook slipped up with VR?
  I first tried the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in the corner of a drab conference room in Las Vegas. I was convinced within seconds – despite feeling a little dizzy – that the device, held together by duct tape and hope, was destined for big things.
  VR sales have been less than expected, but I still believe VR and AR are the next big things.

• REVEALED: This is what secretive billion-dollar startup Magic Leap has been working on
  Hi everyone – the photo you are all excited about is NOT what you think it is. The photo shows an @magicleap R&D test rig where we collect room/space data for our machine vision/machine learning work.
  Lot’s of laughs about how crap this looks, but it’s a prototype. Remember the iPhone prototype?

• Let’s stop calling them ‘soft skills’
  Are you good at your job? Different, easier question: Was Ty Cobb good at baseball?
  Totally agree and some thought provoking statements – But when an employee demoralizes the entire team by undermining a project, or when a team member checks out and doesn’t pull his weight, or when a bully causes future stars to quit the organization — too often, we shrug and point out that this person has tenure, or vocational skills or isn’t so bad. But they’re stealing from us. So true.

• Google Brain super-resolution image tech makes “zoom, enhance!” real
  Google Brain has devised some new software that can create detailed images from tiny, pixelated source images. Google’s software, in short, basically means the “zoom in… now enhance!” TV trope is actually possible. First, take a look at the image on the right.
  This is wild…bad TV shows have been doing this for years!

• A Dead Simple Tool To Find Out What Facebook Knows About You
  If you could measure all the information you consume online, what would you learn about yourself? That’s the question behind the new Chrome extension Data Selfie.
  Too much.

• A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until he unlocked his phone
  Two weeks ago, Sidd Bikkannavar flew back into the United States after spending a few weeks abroad in South America. An employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Bikkannavar had been on a personal trip, pursuing his hobby of racing solar-powered cars.
  Shameful. Don’t go to America.

Life
Long week with some travel down south. Tuesday night in Farnborough turned into Tuesday night in London and a great wee meal at Smoking Goat.

Media
Enjoying new Elbow, Little Fictions, and Melanfonie from Emika.

Links

• Trial Balloon for a Coup?
  The theme of this morning’s news updates from Washington is additional clarity emerging, rather than meaningful changes in the field. But this clarity is enough to give us a sense of what we just saw happen, and why it happened the way it did.
  Surely not but then the last two weeks have been pretty crazy.
• ‘Why let ’em in?’ Understanding Bannon’s worldview and the policies that follow.
  In November 2015, Stephen K. Bannon — then the executive chairman of Breitbart News — was hosting a satellite radio show. His guest was Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.), who opposed President Obama’s plan to resettle some Syrian refugees in the United States. Bannon cut him off.
  Nazi in charge.
• Tested: The truth behind the MacBook Pro’s ‘terrible’ battery life
  Read professional reviews of Apple’s new MacBook Pro lineup, and you’ll come away thinking the new laptops have great battery life. Dive into a customer forum, though, and the upshot will be exactly the opposite: The new MacBook Pros have “piss poor” battery life.
  Reality is that a lot of people would trade weight for battery.
• MICHAEL WOLF: Hong Kong’s Architecture of Density
  Lovely feature on Hong Kong’s architecture.
• Press Statement: Why I held up that sign behind Nigel Farage
  London Labour MEP, Seb Dance, has explained why he held up a sign saying “he’s lying to you” while Nigel Farage defended the immigration policy of Donald Trump in the European Parliament. “Mainstream politics must be more willing to challenge the nationalists and the populists.
  Or just keep Farage of TV and Radio. Cnut.

• I Feel It Coming – How Streaming is Changing Music Consumption
  Over the past couple years we’ve published two massive articles about the current state and impending trends of music consumption—my deep dive on the tough realities of streaming platforms and Nick’s bullshit-free synopsis of Nielsen’s 2016 music industry report.
  Streaming is my main way of consuming music now and I’m a late comer to it.

• Arkansas passes law allowing rapists to sue victims who want an abortion
  Abortion rights activists hold placards outside of the US Supreme Court ahead of an expected ruling on abortion clinic restrictions on June 27, 2016 in Washington, DC.
  Actual what the fuck moment of the week. Shocking.

• David Bowie Special Stamps
  Cookies are small text files stored by your device when you access most websites on the internet. We will use two types of cookies: www.royalmail.com (this Website) uses cookies in order to make it easier to use and to support the provision of relevant information and functionality to you.
  Love these. Well done Royal Mail.

• Being Batman
  A look behind the mask of the real life Batman.Batman: http://ift.tt/2jKIqmg & Music: Ryan Freeman (http://ift.tt/2jvrPOq)Produced by: Lossless Creative (http://ift.tt/2h0N8Hd)Drone & Camera Assistant: Nick Freeman
  I thought this was a spoof at first but no, this guy really is Batman every night.

• The making of Apple’s HAL
  Between the lack of surprise (so many spots are released early now) and the general mediocrity, it became more chore than fun. That said, I refuse to lose my Big Game spirit. So — how about a little story from Apple’s Super Bowl past?
  With Super Bowl today we’ll see lots of great adverts (and some not so great) and this is a nice write up on Apple’s ad from 1999.

• Alphabet’s Boston Dynamics is working on a robot that its founder calls “nightmare inducing”
  Boston Dynamics now has a long history of viral videos showing off its latest terrifying robots. Apparently its latest creation takes things even a step further.
  It’s got wheels!!!

• Not ‘Lone Wolves’ After All: How ISIS Guides World’s Terror Plots From Afar
  HYDERABAD, India — When the Islamic State identified a promising young recruit willing to carry out an attack in one of India’s major tech hubs, the group made sure to arrange everything down to the bullets he needed to kill victims.
  Good article and shows how terror attacks are far more coordinated than we thought.

• In his own words: Imam Hassan Guillet’s address at Quebec City funeral for 3 mosque victims
  Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, has been charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder following Sunday night’s shooting. None of the allegations against him has been proven in court. We are here to celebrate Khaled, Aboubaker, Abdelkrim, Azzedine, Mamadou, Ibrahima.
  I fear this won’t be the only attack this year.

• LIFE – Official Trailer (In Theaters March 24)
  This March, be careful what you search for. #SearchForLIFE In theaters March 24, 2017Follow us on Social:http://www.facebook.com/lifemovieofficialwww.twitter.com/lifemoviewww.instagram.com/lifemovieofficialSubscribe to Sony Pictures for exclusive video updates: http://bit.ly/SonyPicsSubscribeLife tells the
  Nice Alien vibe to this film.

• What The Fuck Just Happened Today?
  1/ Homeland Security suspends travel ban, and will resume standard inspections of travelers as it did prior to the signing of the travel ban. The White House announced the Justice Department would file an emergency motion to stop the halt, but it had yet to do so as of Saturday afternoon.
  Keep up to date with all that Trump fucks up.

• Sean Spicer Press Conference – SNL
  White House press secretary Sean Spicer (Melissa McCarthy) and secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos (Kate McKinnon) take questions from the press (Bobby Moynihan, Kristen Stewart, Cecily Strong, Vanessa Bayer, Alex Moffat, Mikey Day).
  So good, SNL and Melissa McCarthy tackle Sean Spicer.

• Inside Libratus, the Poker AI That Out-Bluffed the Best Humans
  For almost three weeks, Dong Kim sat at a casino in Pittsburgh and played poker against a machine. But Kim wasn’t just any poker player. This wasn’t just any machine. And it wasn’t just any game of poker. Kim, 28, is among the best players in the world.
  Libratus learned how to play poker and then took on the best in the world. The advances in AI are astonishing…what will keep them in check?

Life
Kept the walking going this week as well and so far no ill effects. 14 days and counting. Next week will see the first bit of travel in a while as I’m off to Bristol then Farnborough. I used to enjoy travelling but now, not so much.

Media
Homeland is back and I’m hopeful of a good season. Binge watched some West Wing as it’s far better than watching the news. Also keeping an eye on the Sky/Discovery spat. I really need to move on from Sky.

Links

• What would Steve (Jobs) do? He sure wouldn’t eat humble pie as the Trump era dawns.
  Last week at the DLD conference in Munich, Microsoft president and chief legal officer Brad Smith appeared onstage to talk about a range of things related to the tech giant.
  Tech leaders have finally found their voice this weekend.
• Why hasn’t Scotland changed its mind on independence?
  Another referendum now would have a similar result to 2014’s.
  Some good data in the article, still feel SNP should focus on governing and not independence.
• Iceland knows how to stop teen substance abuse but the rest of the world isn’t listening
  It’s a little before three on a sunny Friday afternoon and Laugardalur Park, near central Reykjavik, looks practically deserted. There’s an occasional adult with a pushchair, but the park’s surrounded by apartment blocks and houses, and school’s out – so where are all the kids?
  From a couple of weeks back but really interesting. Long term wins over short-termism.
• NHS spending per person will be cut next year, ministers confirm
  The Government will cut the National Health Service’s budget per person in real terms next year, ministers have admitted in official figures for the first time.
  Everyone is focusing on America – lets slip out this news. Shady.
• Australian Open: Roger Federer beats Rafael Nadal to win 18th Grand Slam title
  Roger Federer won his 18th Grand Slam title and first for five years with a thrilling five-set victory over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final.
  Amazing tennis this morning and great to see Federer back and winning.
• The Hollywood List Everyone Wants to Be On
  Franklin Leonard’s anonymous survey has launched careers, recognized four of the past eight Best Picture winners, and pushed movie studios to think beyond sequels and action flicks.
  In amongst the crap news remember, it’s Oscar time.
• Vanishing point: the rise of the invisible computer
  In 1971, Intel, then an obscure firm in what would only later come to be known as Silicon Valley, released a chip called the 4004.
  Things are getting smaller, like the tech in AirPods but I’d still have a bigger phone with better battery life.
• How I Got My Attention Back
  There are a thousand beautiful ways to start the day that don’t begin with looking at your phone. And yet so few of us choose to do so.
  Focus.
• Doomsday Prep for the Super-Rich
  Steve Huffman, the thirty-three-year-old co-founder and C.E.O. of Reddit, which is valued at six hundred million dollars, was nearsighted until November, 2015, when he arranged to have laser eye surgery.
  Wacky but a good read.

Life
A bit of focus on fitness so kept my activity rings full for the week. Boom. Nothing strenuous, just some walking but didn’t seem to have any side effects which is a positive sign.

Media
Overwatch has me hooked. Loving it.

Links

• Donald Trump inauguration TV listing goes viral
  The Sunday Herald TV critic Damian Love reimagined the ceremony as a return of the classic science fiction series The Twilight Zone. “After a long absence, The Twilight Zone returns with one of the most ambitious, expensive and controversial productions in broadcast history.
  This went viral last week and deservedly so.
• The Problem of the Wilderness
  I went to Alaska for New Year with my friend Dan. We spent a week travelling North from Anchorage by rail, 4×4 & light aircraft. I took along my A7SII for the trip, not knowing what we would see.
  Beautiful
• Super real Mario Odyssey
  Mario meets GTA.
• Clearing Out the App Stores: Government Censorship Made Easier
  There’s a new form of digital censorship sweeping the globe, and it could be the start of something devastating. In the last few weeks, the Chinese government compelled Apple to remove New York Times apps from the Chinese version of the App Store.
  Tech companies have a responsibility going forward to stand up to governments around the world.
• Meet the Team Behind Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Page
  When Facebook went public five years ago, the world had a pretty vivid picture of who Mark Zuckerberg was.
  President Zuck in a few years time?
• The Final Days of Obama’s Tech Surge
  Onsome members of the United States Digital Service — President Obama’s shining example of how Silicon Valley’s tech minds can make a palpable impact on government — got up early to attend a retreat at Camp David.
  Trump and the Republicans have threatened to trash much of Obama’s legacy…would that include this team?
• I Earned More From Photo Gigs in 2016 With My iPhone Than My DSLRs
  2016 ended in a most fitting fashion for the new way I am trying to earn a living as a freelance photographer. On December 27, I was on Montara Beach photographing a college volleyball player on assignment for Volleyball USA magazine.
  Wow, times are a changing.
• Attack on Alt-Right Leader Has Internet Asking: Is It O.K. to Punch a Nazi?
  Is it O.K. to punch a Nazi? That is not a brainteaser or a hypothetical question posed by a magazine on Twitter. It is an actual question bouncing around the internet after an attack on a well-known far-right activist, Richard B. Spencer, in Washington after the inauguration of Donald J.
  Yes!
• WhatsApp, Signal, and dangerously ignorant journalism
  There is something about encryption that brings out the worst in journalists. Because to most of them it is magic, they are always searching desperately for the proverbial man behind the curtain, without knowing what to look for.
  The Guardian vs the rest of the tech press. Surprised they are being so stubborn on this story.
• How 550 Facebook Users Spread Britain First Content To Hundreds Of Thousands Of People
  The Facebook profiles seem entirely ordinary. Scattered across towns in England, Wales, and Scotland – as well as Spain, Australia, and the US – they share photos of their grandchildren, missing children warnings, sad tales of animal abuse, and cute memes about hugs.
  Doesn’t take many to game the system.
• My home is a mess
  The coffee machine has burbled into life, the aroma wafts temptingly from the kitchen. In the bedroom my sleep monitor suggests I need to wake up in the next ten minutes and the daylight bulb in the lamp starts to glow into life.
  Gordon’s post captures my situation as well. I’ve some smart home kit but it’s pretty fragmented and each platform owner wants to own the game to the detriment of the end user. Can’t see it changing anytime soon either.
• Pictures From Women’s Marches on Every Continent
  Yesterdays marches were inspiring.
• To Obama With Love, and Hate, and Desperation
  On a recent October morning in the White House mailroom, on the ground floor of the Executive Office Building just beside a loading dock, 10 interns sat at two long tables, each trying to get through 300 letters. Grab a bundle, sit down and read. It was pretty straightforward: Read.
  He’ll be missed.

Life
Work was pretty full on this week but got a lot done. Finished with an 8 mile walk n Saturday morning which was good…but tired me out. Slept like a baby last night. Still not got rid of this viral nonsense yet.

Media
Watched the first episode of Taboo last week. Stylish, moody but needs more plot and story. Also back into West Wing series 2 which is a magnificent counterpoint to American politics right now. If you haven’t watched it (really?!) or haven’t see it in years dive in and watch along with the excellent West Wing Weekly podcast.

Links

• Uber debuts Movement, a new website offering access to its traffic data
  Uber is opening up in an area where it might make sense competitively for it to stay more closed off: The ride-hailing company’s new Movement website will offer up access to its data around traffic flow in scores where it operates, intended for use by city planners and researchers looking
  Great use of the data that Uber have amassed. For me this is what Ai in cars can bring, not just safer driving but
• Twelve things you need to know about driverless cars
  By 2025 most of today’s drivers are unlikely to even want to own a car. But will we still have gridlock? Will you need to pass a test? We asked the experts From forecourt to scrapyard, a new car in the UK lasts an average of 13.
  Just moved into third year of the A3 so later on will be deciding on keeping, getting a new lease or moving to 2nd hand again. Tipping point soon but maybe not this year?
• This Is What It’s Like to Read Fake News For Two Weeks
  A few weeks ago, perplexed by the persistence of fake news, I attempted to think like someone I wasn’t. On December 13, I created a dummy Twitter account. More of a clone, actually. I chose to emulate Michael Flynn Jr.
  Fake news has become so prevalent, not just online but in the newspapers as well, that I’m not sure it can easily be countered. Sad.
• I wore men’s clothes for a month – and it changed my life
  It’s 9am and I’m having breakfast at the House of Commons. I’m wearing a three-piece pinstriped suit, matching tie and pocket square, and the confidence of a mediocre white man. To my left, a man is pouring me coffee; to my right, another is listening respectfully. How did I get here?
  Eye opening read. Didn’t expect the results.
• Guy Makes Sweaters Of Places And Then Photographs Himself In Those Places
  Love it!
• Bringing Wide Color to Instagram
  When captured by an iPhone 7 Plus, most of the oranges and colors in the room are outside the sRGB color gamut, so detail is lost unless we use a wider color space. The color space that Apple chose for its devices going forward is Display P3.
  A great, detailed and downright geeky post…and I love the results on the iPhone. More please, on all devices. And thats not just a plea to Apple but also iPad support please Instagram.
• Final Fantasy 7 – An oral history
  We are saving your place in the story as you read. Today, it sits above a Doutor coffee shop a few doors from a train station in a busy part of Hiyoshi, Yokohama.
  Long, long read on an incredible game.
• The 50 Most Beautiful Shots of The Star Wars Franchise
  Indulge!
• The dream of Ara: Inside the rise and fall of the world’s most revolutionary phone
  It looked nothing like an iPhone, or anything Apple might dare to make. Hakkens imagined a smartphone made of interchangeable blocks, and each block — the screen, the battery, the processor, and so on — could be easily upgraded or repaired, so it wouldn’t end up in a landfill after two years.
  Never thought this would work and some of the idea’s are batshit.
• Tony Fadell tells us the story of the iPod-based iPhone prototype
  This week marks the 10th anniversary of the original iPhone introduction, and with it, a flood of stories about the design and development of the device.
  Some good background from one of the actual team at the time.
• How the world reacted to the first iPhone 10 years ago
  A decade ago today, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone, and nobody knew quite what to think. It was expensive; it didn’t have 3G; there was no physical keyboard and the touchscreen didn’t have a stylus.
  Still interesting to see the reaction to the iPhone…especially Ballmer.
• A closer look at the Nintendo Switch
  Nintendo finally unveiled launch details for its its new Switch console today (to recap: March 3rd worldwide for $299). While the pricing and availability are big news, the bigger news for me was the ability to actually play with the new console at an event in London. The console consists of a 6.
  Really not sure about the Switch. Pricey, lack of games, low tech specs. Still, I’ve ordered one as I’m intrigued…or an idiot!
• The Greatest Chess Game ever played
  The Greatest Chess Game ever played: Garry Kasparov (2812) – Veselin Topalov (2700)
  Great commentary of a great game.
• How An Allegedly Fake Video Killed A Much-Hyped Drone Startup
  On Dec. 20, Lily Robotics was up against a wall. It was five days before Christmas, and dozens of eager customers who had spent more than $499 to pre-order the company’s flagship product were wondering if they were ever going to see it.
  Cheeky fuckers. They faked the video, took in millions from people and never delivered the final product. With Kickstarter there is always an element of risk, but these guys look to be fraudsters which doesn’t help anyone on that platform.
• How voice technology is transforming computing
  ANY sufficiently advanced technology, noted Arthur C. Clarke, a British science-fiction writer, is indistinguishable from magic. The fast-emerging technology of voice computing proves his point.
  It’s early days but voice offers an intriguing glimpse at a future without UI.
• App Extensions Are Not a Replacement for User Automation
  Here’s a thought experiment. Let’s imagine that Apple decided to combine their engineering resources to form app teams that delivered both iOS and macOS versions of applications.
  Really thought provoking article by Sal Soghoian, an automation genius recently let go by Apple.
• Euan McColm: Why voters should take no pride in the NHS
  It is a minimum requirement of any politician that he or she should be a passionate defender of the National Health Service. Few things matter more to voters than the NHS. We are sentimentally attached to it in a way that we just aren’t to other public services. This is quite understandable.
  Maybe we should focus less on Independence, eh?
• Understanding the Diderot Effect (and How To Overcome It)
  I am not a psychologist, nor am I philosopher. But I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the goals we pursue, the things we own, and the items we buy. I find it to be a fascinating study into the human spirit. There are countless reasons we buy more stuff than we need.
  So this is why I buy so much shit.
• How the inventor of Mario designs a game
  Shigeru Miyamoto’s design philosophy, explained.
  But maybe it’s Miyamoto’s influence that makes we want the Nintendo Switch.