Category: Weekly digest

Life
Busy week ahead. Work is super packed all week and I’m potentially on jury duty at the High Court in Glasgow from Wednesday. Better than twiddling my thumbs I guess. End of the week will see new 4K TV and amp delivered – cabling ahoy!

Media
Battlefield 1 is the real deal. Still enjoying it.

PinOut on iOS and Android is worth picking up. Endless pinball with tron like graphics and sounds. Addictive.

Links

• Inside The Strange, Paranoid World Of Julian Assange
• How Despots Use Twitter to Hunt Dissidents
• Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race – Ugly, especially as you can’t exclude whites.
• Lisbeth Salander’s Real Life Twin May Be Iceland’s Next Prime Minister – Political change across the globe.
• New MacBook Pro Touch Bar, T1 Chip Run on a Variant of watchOS – The new MacBook Pro is a hybrid. Clever.
• Apple just told the world it has no idea who the Mac is for – Can’t really disagree with any of this
• Admit it: Microsoft is now a braver, more innovative company than Apple – True
• The Surface Studio! – I’m not a creative but loved the idea and design of the Surface Studio. Game from Penny Arcade writes on his findings so far.
• 20 CDs curated by Steve Jobs & the iPod team – Fascinating and 15 years since the iPod!
• Arctic
• ARCTIC – Visual Vibes – Couple of cracking video’s from the Arctic. Added to the (long) travel list.
• The Exile – Kesha, Interrupted
• Sexual harassment in virtual reality feels all too real – ‘it’s creepy beyond creepy’
• Inside the secret meeting that changed the fate of Vine forever – Who can blame them for not taking that deal. Bye bye Vine.
• How the Web Became Unreadable – Couldn’t agree more…or maybe I’m getting old(er).
• IBM Is Counting on Its Bet on Watson, and Paying Big Money for It
• What’s More Distracting Than A Noisy Co-Worker? Turns Out, Not Much – There are many days I wish for an office just for me.
• MondoCon 2016: Olly Moss’ Unreleased ‘The Force Awakens’ Poster and Other Unfinished Prints – I’ve a couple of Mondo posters. This a look at the one’s they’ve rejected or couldn’t run.
• The History of the Pit Stop – Great 50 min documentary on the pit stop.

Life
An up and down week that ended better than it started. Starting to plot a 4K TV purchase in the not to distant future.

Media
Westworld is starting to hit it’s stride – really enjoying it. Also enjoyed the first of the new Black Mirror episodes on Netflix.

Battlefield 1 on the Xbox One is an excellent game. Operations mode on multiplayer is epic, some of the best multiplayer I’ve played on this generation of console. Coupled with a strong story mode and a range of multiplayer options make it a great purchase.

Mini Metro is a cracking game on iOS. It’s a subway building game which is just made for a touch interface. Just £3.99 but a really essential buy if you enjoy gaming on iOS.

Links

• The Death of British Business
• Britain Is Becoming an Emerging Market – What have we voted for!
• Why Gary Lineker, Lily Allen and you shouldn’t comment – Fuck The Sun.
• Your brilliant Kickstarter idea could be on sale in China before you’ve even finished funding it
• Apple, Samsung, And Good Design—Inside And Out – Has the design effort on the iPhone 7 been under appreciated?
• Apple Strategy 2017. Very important change to iPhone coming. – Some of this seems fantastical, but what if it does pan out?
• With just 13 staff, Netflix has taken over Britain – Wow.
• Watch a Tesla Drive Itself Around Totally Autonomously
• 44 New Cool Websites and Apps to Learn Something New – Some good links here
• The Making Of WipEout – Cracking game, sadly missed from todays consoles.
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Trailer – A year’s a long time to wait
• LOGAN Official International Red Band Trailer – Looks good

Life
Autumn starting to kick in and you can see and feel the change – wonderful colours and carpets of leaves around Glasgow. It also means darker mornings and nights. Need to make a bigger effort to get out during the day.

Media
Playstation VR delivered this week but I’ll keep my thoughts on that for a future post apart from saying this – it’s very good. I’ve also been playing some Battlefield 1 and it is wonderful. One of the most atmospheric shooters yet.

Links

• Echo, interfaces and friction
• Mossberg: Why does Siri seem so dumb? – Because it is and when it fails people lose trust and ditch using it. Compare that to the Echo which I’ve used every day since purchase.
• Barack Obama: America will take the giant leap to Mars
• The President in Conversation With MIT’s Joi Ito and WIRED’s Scott Dadich – What a contrast between Obama and what may be next.
• Watch: Michelle Obama’s powerful speech on the Trump sexual assault allegations
• Google News introduces fact check feature – just in time for US election
• When you’re ready to talk, Nicola, we’re ready to listen
• Danny MacAskill’s Wee Day Out – Another great video from Danny MacAskill
• Planet Earth II: Official Extended Trailer – BBC Earth – Stunning.
• The Binge Breaker – Are you addicted?
• Miyamoto Spills Donkey Kong’s Darkest Secrets, 35 Years Later
• Drones begin delivering blood in Rwanda – A positive drone story for a change.
• Borrowed Time – A western for adults. Loved it.
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Trailer #2 (Official) – 2 months to go

Life
Back at work and busy busy busy again. Health not great although weekend got better after a difficult Friday. Still enjoying the camera and the weather this week was really good for October.

Media
More Halo and Fifa and weirdly thinking about a gaming PC after 10 years of not having one. I blame VR though next weeks PSVR may kill the urge for the short term.

Links

• Dani Garavelli: Time to sneer or stand up and be counted? – Must read after the Tories showed their true colours this week.
• Mother of teenager who killed himself appeals for kindness online
• Speak, Memory – Black Mirror is clearly a documentary
• Black Mirror | Official Trailer – Season 3 [HD] | Netflix – And there’s a new series of Black Mirror starting soon
• Jack Dorsey Is Losing Control of Twitter – No one wants to buy it, people say it’s dead yet over the weekend it’s the only place that was discussing the Trump fiasco. Weird.
• Samsung knew a third replacement Note 7 caught fire on Tuesday and said nothing – Samsung needs to kill the Note. This is so damaging to their brand.
• The Google Phone – Google finally hitting the hardware market and giving their phones the best version of Android at the same time. Shitty week for Samsung.
• iPhone 7 vs Leica M9-P: A Side-by-Side Photo Comparison – Stunning. For certain photo’s your phone really is good enough.
• German Lawmakers Vote to Ban the Internal Combustion Engine – There’s a step change in cars coming sooner than we think.
• Welcome to a world without work – When bloggers and vloggers consider that a job, who does the real work?
• Yelling At Amazon’s Alexa – I’m yelling at Alexa everyday
• Riggins for President: A Mostly True Account of Everything That’s Happened in Dillon Since ‘Friday Night Lights’ Ended – I loved Friday Night Lights

Life
A week off from work taking a well earned break last week. All was going well until Friday when I had a bit of a health relapse but overall a good week. The change in season seems to have happened overnight…I’m sure I woke up on Thursday and it was all of a sudden Autumn. But it was good to get out and about with the camera for a few days. Hopefully get some more shots this week if the weather holds.

I also gave Prime Now a go for the first time and it worked well although I was surprised at seeing a tip option in the order. Does this go directly to the driver? Are Amazon not paying full rates and hoping tips make up the difference?

Media
I’ve only recently joined Netflix (I know, how late am I?) and half way through Stranger Things and started on Luke Cage. I recommend The White Helmets which is a great documentary and back in on The Fall on the BBC.

After a few years gap picked up Fifa 17 and so far enjoying it. The new Bon Iver album, 22 A Million, is worth a listen and shout out to Deacon Blue and their new album Believers which came out last week too.

Links

• #TrumpWon? trend vs. reality
• Why Donald Trump can’t stop feuding with Alicia Machado, explained – Presidential!
• Wiggins: ‘I was paranoid about making excuses. It wasn’t something I was going to shout from the rooftops’
• Bradley Wiggins and Sky operated in grey areas which blur moral credibility – It’s added to the overall doubt about how clean cycling is thats for sure.
• 993 – aphantasia: what it is, why it’s lightly annoying, and how you can help
• Defending Against Hackers Took a Back Seat at Yahoo, Insiders Say – Should never have taken two years to be made public
• I Used to Be a Human Being – Too much information
• The ill-fated tale of Phoneys, the stupid little sticker pack that went #1 on the App Store

nd-act?utm_term=.japMJ60n3#.ahmOgnRw1″>Inside Apple Music’s Second Act – refreshed app is better but should allow me to create and share playlists far easier than it currently does. I guess iOS 11 will address?

• iPhone 7 Plus Depth Effect is Legit – Some of the pic’s the beta produces are a bit false looking, but in general I think the portrait feature is fantastic. Just a shame it’s on the 8 Plus only.
• The Drone you’ll always have with you: The DJI Mavic Pro – Portability is king
• The Secret Lab Where Nike Invented the Power-Lacing Shoe of Our Dreams
• 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time
• Every Netflix Original Series, Ranked – I’ve a lot to catch up on
• Our secret’s out. – So clever.
• Every British swear word has been officially ranked in order of offensiveness – But no fuckpig?
• SpaceX’s Big Fucking Rocket – The Full Story

• Earth Temperature Timeline – This graphic is amazing and scary and shows just how dangerous and real climate change is.
• Approaching the First Climate Tipping Point — On Track to Hit 1.5 C Before 2035
• To the 4 white male policemen who beat me for checking the health of a sick black man in their custody… – wow!
• Colin Powell Calls Trump A “National Disgrace” In Personal Emails – Truth
• Jack Dorsey On The New Twitter: “We’re Not A Social Network As People Think About It”
• The iPhones 7 – The Daring Fireball review. I’m loving my new iPhone 7 – so fast and the camera is very good.
• iphone 7 camera review: rwanda
• Against Minimalism
• iOS 10:The MacStories Review – Federico Viticci delivers a 50,000 word review on iOS 10 and for club members it’s available as an e-book. Deep and worthwhile read.
• The Marvel Symphonic Universe – I can just about remember one tune from a Marvel film but in general there music isn’t as memorable as their films.
• Fury Road – Crash & Smash – This is breathtaking, so much in Fury Road was real and not CGI and all the better for it. Black and White edition comes out later this year too!

• May vs Corbyn: Survation – Shocker
• I learnt I’d acquired the nickname Blinky Balls
• Inside the Federal Bureau Of Way Too Many Guns – Jaw dropping
• Discrimination By Design
• Meet the parents who won’t let their children study literature
• My Summer Working as an Uber Bike Messenger
• Situations where it’s OK for men to talk to women they don’t know
• Glasgow’s Amazing Buildings In Lego
• The Real-Life Superhero Who Beats the Cops to Bike Thieves
• Avengers: Full House
• See what Thor was up to during Civil War
• Westworld Trailer (HBO) – Not long. Looking forward to this.

• Just 90 companies are to blame for most climate change
• The Earth Next Door – But is there life?
• How Things Work – Bye Bye Gawker….for now.
• Where has all the money gone, Nicola Sturgeon? – Even with extra levers that we don’t apply, it’s looking pretty grim.
• Inside Faslane: Everyday life in UK’s most contentious base
• Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move From Above
• The Apple-Google shift – I’ve been thinking about this more, especially with the smaller year on year upgrades to the iPhone.
• The iBrain is here – can Apple’s AI really rival Google…or Facebook?
• Big data, Google and the end of free will
• Vesper, Adieu – Difficult times for app developers
• The 21st Century’s 100 greatest films – Some surprising titles on this list. Greatest also not mean enjoyable.
• Why Super Nintendo Is the Reason You’re Still Playing Video Games

A bumper two week special.

• Fractured Lands: How the Arab World Came Apart – Amazing work from NY Times
• Trump & “Just Joking”
• WTFUK – This is horrible and not the UK I want to live in.
• Apple Music’s Bozoma Saint John: It’s About Passion, Not Algorithms – Listen, baby, we’re just getting started.
• Eddy Cue And Craig Federighi Open Up About Learning From Apple’s Failures
• Tim Cook, the interview: Running Apple ‘is sort of a lonely job’ – Long but insightful interview. Must read.
• What I Learned Working With Jony Ive’s Team On The Apple Watch
• The problem with iPad and why it’s not a Mac replacement – Where my heads at too, but it really depends on what your needs are.
• Uber’s First Self-Driving Fleet Arrives in Pittsburgh This Month
• Eleven Reasons To Be Excited About The Future of Technology
• Is some Olympic commentary sexist?
• Steak, spuds and pull like a dog: the O’Donovans reveal their Olympic final strategy – Loved this interview, but loved their performance in the final even more.
• Why Track-And-Field Stars Don’t Set World Records Like They Used To (But Swimmers Do)
• Andy Murray Just Reminded A Reporter That Women’s Tennis Is Still Tennis
• Rio 2016: That Iconic Usain Bolt Photo Is Actually Two Photos
• Hugh MacDonald: Andy Murray chose to do something out of love, not just for tennis but for sport itself
• The Rise of Britain’s Cycling Empire – Great look at Team GB from the Wall Street Journal
• Journey into the depths of London’s Crossrail tunnels in this exclusive video
• Complaints made after judge trades insults with defendant in court
• Glasgow, forever Edinburgh’s poor relation, deserves better
• Glasgow’s Hidden Gems
• Here’s What’s Going Down With Netflix’s Servers Before You Get ‘The Get Down’
• No Man’s Sky
• Promising the Earth: No Man’s Sky – 10 days in and still loving it
• Meteors Encountering Earth’s Atmosphere: A View From the International Space Station
• As the SNES turns 25, devs weigh in on the console’s 11 best games – 25 years old!
• Digital Foundry: Hands-on with DriveClub VR – PSVR delivering better than I expected, only 6 weeks until launch.

Bit later as I’ve a week off work and last night was Olympic watching time. Lot’s of videos this week too.

• BBC to deploy detection vans to snoop on internet users – But weren’t the old vans bullshit?
• The scandal isn’t that TV detector vans are going to intercept your Wi-Fi. The scandal is that you still believe in TV detector vans – Yes, they were bullshit!
• Batman v Superman concept art
• Hey Siri – What can you do for me? – Great list of options for Siri
• Facebook’s really big plans for virtual reality – Come for the great web design, stay for the article
• Google is seeking thick Scottish accents – Eleven!
• The Brilliant Sorcery of England’s 7-Circle Magic Roundabout – Mental!
• Casey Neistat: What You Don’t See
• Saving Govan’s Fairfield Shipyard Building
• Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time at the International Festival
• Peaty smashes world record on way to Britain’s first gold – Compare that to Djokovic. Highs and lows of sport.