Category: Weekly digest

Life
Better week, good weather although could do with being a wee bit cooler. Never liked too much heat. Also enjoying Linode and a wee bit of scripting. Likely move all online accounts to Linode over the coming weeks.

Media
Finally caught up on Kenny, a documentary on Kenny Dalglish. Loved it and well worth catching while still on iPlayer.

Also enjoying the new Chvrches album, really good.

Links

• How Fortnite conquered the world | Games | The GuardianDidn’t expect this when Fortnite first came out. Bit random, clone of PUBG and wasn’t sold on the accuracy of it all. Roll on a few months and its the daddy and PUBG are suing. Wow.
• What It’s Like When Elon Musk’s Twitter Mob Comes After YouSad. Musk is a genius but on Twitter at least is coming across like a Trump or Assange.
• Internet Trends Report 2018
  Internet Trends 2018 Report – Mary Meeker, Code Conference May 30th, 2018.
  Geek out on this report. Summary…smartphone growth flat, China is the market to be in. Love seeing this every year.
• We bought 5,000 Panini World Cup 2018 stickers and still didn’t complete the album
  Got, Got, Need
  World Cup is only days away and this is the best take on it so far.
• Richard Madeley cuts off Gavin Williamson after he repeatedly dodges question on Russia – YouTubeDetest Madeley but fair play to him. Williamson is one of the worst politicians in years and thats saying something.
• How Apple Programmer Sal Soghoian Got Apps Talking to Each Other | WIREDGreat profile and a nice read before WWDC hits.
• Looking for Life on a Flat Earth | The New YorkerI just don’t get this.
• Why You Should Stop Being So Hard on Yourself – The New York TimesLove this, so much rings true.
• Eerie silence falls on Shetland cliffs that once echoed to seabirds’ cries | Environment | The GuardianShocking decline over the last 10-20 years.
• At times I can’t tell where I end and my migraines begin | Eva Wiseman | Life and style | The GuardianThis describes exactly what a migraine feels to me. They are so impacting but like the author sometimes it’s easier just to try and get through it….shouldn’t do it.
• Bye, Chrome: Why I’m switching to Firefox and you should tooAgreed.
• How Instagram’s algorithm works | TechCrunchClever and all that, but let me pick chronological if I want to. Fuckers.

Life
Shit week with no sleep and some crap news. Onwards.

Media
Patrick Melrose…difficult to watch in places, Benedict Cumberbatch is pretty amazing throughout. Spotted the Barras and a couple of other Glasgow streets stepping in for New York.

Champions League final. Ramos is a nasty wee shite. Bale was quite magnificent. Robertson kept Liverpool in it. Karius was crap. If ever a game showed why Liverpool need a goalkeeper this was it.

Links

• Patrick Melrose captures heroin addiction perfectly – my memories flooded back | John Crace | Society | The GuardianNever taken drugs and felt the TV show was over the top…clearly not.
• Second Life: Rethinking Myself Through Exercise, Mindfulness, and Gratitude – MacStoriesReally great read and some advice worth following.
• Red Giant | TANKLoved this. Less than 3 mins, give it a try.
• Google’s File on Me Was Huge. Here’s Why It Wasn’t as Creepy as My Facebook Data. – The New York TimesSame for me. Facebook data was weird and full of stuff that wasn’t mine either.
• Irish abortion referendum: Ireland overturns abortion banWonderful wonderful result. Slowly but surely religion is losing it’s grip. NI next!
• How TV Studios Are Scrambling to Keep Talent in the Age of Netflix | Hollywood ReporterToo much TV…this will pop eventually.
• Technology is driving us to distraction | James Williams | Opinion | The GuardianSee it everyday. People on phones constantly, the need to reply to messages even thought they are crap. Let it go.

Life
Long and messy week ended with some Ramen, shopping and more work but hopefully thats the last out of hours stuff for a while.

Media
Westworld still weaving it’s magic. Four episodes in and it’s great while also a wee bit confusing but it’s good to watch something that makes you think.

Finally got the photo’s from last weekends Caterham racing at Knockhill online. Full album can be found here on Flickr. Yep, still using that old thing.

Links

• Royal Wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle [PHOTOS] – Variety
  After all the hype I’m glad the wedding is out of the way, but there’s no doubting it was a pretty special day.
• Five years later, Sony looks back at how the DualShock 4 Share button happened – PolygonTime flies – five years since the DualShock…although I hardly use the share button.
• How gamers with disabilities shaped the Microsoft Adaptive ControllerIn other controller news, the new Adaptive Controller from Microsoft is a pretty special device. Sony have won this generation but kudos to Microsoft for trying to make gaming playable for everyone.
• John Carmack – Steve Jobs My wife once asked me “Why do… | FacebookThese notes are amazing.
• Daring Fireball: The End of Third-Party Twitter Clients?Twitter seem hell bent on forcing it’s community to use official apps only. Shame…a backwards step.
• Why Instagram Makes You, Me and Selena Gomez Feel BadKind of harsh on Instagram…follow the right people and it’s a really healthy place to be.
• How North Korean hackers became the world’s greatest bank robbersWho knew…great read.
• Germany Acts to Tame Facebook, Learning From Its Own History of Hate – The New York TimesFighting a losing battle?
• A breakdown of Black Panther’s visual effectsAgree with Kottke, so many film and TV shows using visual effects and in many cases they are hard to spot.
• Above NYC – Filmed in 12KYou need a fast machine and plenty bandwidth…but this is well worth it. Stunning.

Life
Knackered. Work travel followed by a long long Friday and then a cracking day at Knockhill has left me a bit bust. Top tip…put on some fucking suncream next time you are going to be standing in the sun all day. Idiot.

Media
Homeland finished this week and it was one of the best seasons yet.

Links

• Exclusive: How Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is rethinking Windows – The Verge
  In this exclusive interview with Dieter Bohn, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella kicks of the Build developer conference by speaking with Dieter Bohn about Windows, AI, and the ethics of cloud computing.
  The change in Microsoft is astounding, shows you what a true leader can deliver.
• Google’s AI sounds like a human on the phone — should we be worried? – The VergeAmazing tech but more than a little creepy. Also if it was so good why not show on stage but instead show a pre-recorded clip or two.
• iMac Pro + Hasselblad H6D Photo Review: Antarctica — Austin MannLove Mann’s reviews and this is no exception.
• Apple, Influence, and IveInteresting interview with Ive. His influence throughout Apple is huge…maybe too much power though?
• Childish Gambino’s This is America and how the internet killed the cultural critic | WIRED UK
  The response to Childish Gambino’s This Is America shows the emergence of a new type of criticism: one done by fans
  Where have all the reviewers gone?
• Euan McColm: Don’t let song remain the same on mental health – The Scotsman
  ‘Don’t forget the songs that made you smile,” sings Morrissey, “And the songs that made you cry. When you lay in awe on the bedroom floor…”
  Scott Hutchison wrote about his problems, talked about them too but still passed too soon. McColm’s article is well worth reading and taking action if you or others around you need help.
• My name is Wil Wheaton. I live with chronic Depression, and I am not ashamed. – WIL WHEATON dot NETLong but important read. Set aside some time for this.

Life
Nice weather equals a weekend of garden DIY. I’m also a little late this week cause holidays! Dabbling with the photography side of things too. Started a separate Instagram account just for the photo’s and following photographers…not sure it’s helping. Also having some thoughts about domains and doing some self-hosting. Time will tell.

Media
Black Panther – Second watch and still really good
Molly’s Game – Good film, great cast and a typical Sorkin script but just seemed to be missing something?

Links

• The Complete Timeline of Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies, From ‘Iron Man’ to ‘Infinity War’
  Great write-up of the MCU timeline so far. There’s spoilers at the end for Infinity War but the rest is gold.
• I tried leaving Facebook. I couldn’t – The Verge
  Facebook is an emotional labor machine, and if you want to leave it, you’re going to have to start doing a lot of work
  Facebook is really sticky despite being a total shit of a company.
• Oculus Go review: VR has never been so good for so cheap
  The Oculus Go is the first VR headset that truly makes it easy to dive into VR without the hassle of connecting a phone or PC.
  I still have faith in VR as a platform but it has to be easier than it currently is. Too much faff.
• Scenes Unseen: The Summer of ’78 – The New York Times
  These photo’s are so good…and so well presented.
• Please don’t use this study to justify your horrible habit of using two spaces after periods – The Verge
  Is it better to have one or two spaces after a period? The first study investigating this hotly contested issue is here, and it supposedly gives the win to the two-spacers. But a closer look at the research suggests that the only reasonable interpretation is that double spacing after a period remains bad. It’s ugly, it doesn’t help when it comes to what matters most (reading comprehension), and the experiment that supports its benefits used an outdated font style.
  Who still does double spaces after periods? If you do….stop it.
• The original iMac: 20 years since Apple changed its fate – Six Colors
  Six Colors by Jason Snell and Dan Moren
  Weirdly l thought the iMac was older than 20 years. It was an amazing design and so fresh compared to the beige towers that everyone had at the time. I remember a friend picking up one of the MacBooks before they brought in the aluminium design. It was gorgeous but the new designs made it look like a toy. For me it was the same when the white iMacs came out and then switched to Intel. That was my jumping in point and I’ve never looked back. The iMac and iPod were amazing gateway devices.
• Panic Blog » The 2017 Panic Report
  Love reading this each year. Feel we should do something similar at work…year in review and whats next.
• It’s Impossible to Prove Your Laptop Hasn’t Been Hacked. I Spent Two Years Finding Out.
  Scary that an expert can’t confirm his laptop hasn’t been hacked.
• Subscription hell | TechCrunch
  I have too many subscriptions and there’s no end in sight. Want all the content then prepare to pay for more and more separate subscriptions. I’ve a few software subs as well but some app’s I’ve just abandoned as the ROI just isn’t there to justify a subscription. Tricky.
• The Gambler Who Cracked the Horse-Racing Code – Bloomberg
  Bill Benter did the impossible: He wrote an algorithm that couldn’t lose at the track. Close to a billion dollars later, he tells his story for the first time.
  Who knew! Great read.
• Lobe – Deep Learning Made Simple
  Lobe is an easy-to-use visual tool that lets you build custom deep learning models, quickly train them, and ship them directly in your app without writing any code.
  The thirteen minute demo video is a must watch. Looks to have a lot of power behind a really simple interface.
• Childish Gambino’s ‘This is America’ Gives a Haunting Take On Our Country’s Toxic Cycle of Violence – Black Nerd Problems
  Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino unleashes a gorgeous visuals of black joy and hot take on America’s cycle of violence in ‘This is America’
  Powerful. You need to watch this.

Life
Busy busy at the moment and not sleeping. I’m blaming the change in seasons. Yawn…

Media
Avengers Infinity War – this was excellent. No spoilers, but what I liked most was that there was no big explainers. Just straight into the film and rewarded anyone thats watched all the films. 2 1/2 hours flew by and they really handled so many characters well. There was also quite a bit to think about – not your average superhero movie.

Britains Biggest Warship – finished tonight and was really enjoyable. Be great to see a follow up in 18 months time showing the jets arriving and the ship on mission.

Westworld – back with a bang. Love it.

Links

• Real People Are Turning Their Accounts Into Bots On Instagram — And Cashing InDo not like. Spent the weekend messing around with new accounts and there’s so much spam on Instagram.
• ‘Call from God’: American pro-lifer’s role in Alfie Evans battle | UK news | The Guardian
  Catholic fundamentalists advised Alfie’s parents and arranged for medical experts to assess the terminally ill child before his death
  This whole story is tragic and some might say this is too soon, but some good old fashioned journalism questioning the legal campaign shows up some truths that were so far hidden from all.
• TSB Train Wreck: Massive Bank IT Failure Going into Fifth Day; Customers Locked Out of Accounts, Getting Into Other People’s Accounts, Getting Bogus Data | naked capitalismOuch. What a mess.
• Death by the sea: how drug abuse is scarring Britain’s coastal towns | Society | The GuardianI know Barrow pretty well and this is such a sad turn for the town.
• Stack Overflow Isn’t Very Welcoming. It’s Time for That to Change. – Stack Overflow BlogGood to see they are looking to tackle this.
• Michelle Wolf COMPLETE REMARKS at 2018 White House Correspondents’ Dinner (C-SPAN) – YouTubeLoved this. LOVED IT. The looks on people’s faces.
• Opinion | Michael Hayden: The End of Intelligence – The New York Times
  How do you brief a president who doesn’t distinguish between truth and lies?
  Good companion to the Michelle Wolf video.

Life
Out and about with camera and drone this week. Semi pleased with the results but need to focus more on getting better results out of the camera and not Lightroom. Also got some new drugs this week that will help with one problem…but leave me with splitting headaches. Hopefully only for another week.

Media
Re-watched Westworld in preperation for the new series tomorrow. Enjoyed it more the second time around as you appreciate some of the earlier episodes now that you are aware of some of the plot twists that come later.

God of War on the PS4. One of the best reviewed games in the last 6 months and it looks stunning. Only managed an hour with it but looking forward to more.

Links

• How to send an ‘E mail’ – Database – 1984 – YouTubeAnd I complain when I get slow 4G!
• Landscape photographer races to finish decades of work – YouTubeLoved this, such dedication.
• Home Office destroyed Windrush landing cards, says ex-staffer | UK news | The GuardianScandalous. Why is no one carrying the can for this?
• James O’Brien’s Must-Watch Monologue On The Windrush Scandal – LBC
  This is James O’Brien’s powerful criticism of Theresa May for her part in the Windrush scandal in which British citizens from the Caribbean have been deported.
  It’s just under 3 mins and well worth listening to his words. Raging that this is happening in the UK today.
• Tesla says its factory is safer. But it left injuries off the books | RevealShocking. Everyone deserves to work in a safe environment.
• Iceland Takes Hard Look at Tech Boom Sparked by Its Cheap, Bountiful Power – WSJMadness.
• SmugMug snaps up Flickr photo service from Verizon’s Oath
  SmugMug’s deal for Flickr, previously owned by Yahoo and then Verizon, should breathe new life into the photo sharing and storage pioneer.
  Flickr was great back in the day and I’m still a member but Yahoo gutted it’s soul. However this gives me hope that with the right ownership it can become something great again.
• Ready Player One is the roadmap to digital dystopia – The Verge
  The 2011 book can tell us a lot about how we arrived this moment in social media and online discourse, if you read between the lines.
  The future is…bleak?
• I was one of the first people on Facebook. I shouldn’t have trusted Mark Zuckerberg | Julie Carrie Wong | Technology | The GuardianShould any of us trust him?
• Marvel Studios 10th Anniversary Tribute – YouTubeFan made summary of the last 10 years of Marvel…perfect watch before Avengers Infinity War which is out this week.

Life
Is that the first time this year it’s been almost normal temperature? Did actual work in the actual garden too. Finally.

Media
The City and the City – great to see some interesting sci-fi on TV. Enjoyed it.

Kiss Me First – and this is worth a watch too, all about VR. First 2 episodes have been great so far.

Links

• 11 Tips for Working on the iPad – MacStoriesLearned a few new things from these tips. Only had an iPad for 6 years 🙂
• 9.7 iPad (2018) review: Drawn on an iPad! And edited, composed, and designed… – YouTubeSerenity Caldwell with one of the best iPad reviews. Shows what really can be done with time, talent and an iPad.
• The secret on the ocean floor – BBC NewsInteresting long read from the Beeb – ocean’s hold so many secrets.
• How we made: Gary Kemp and Steve Norman on True | Culture | The GuardianWho knew!
• Extraordinary aerial photograph of Edinburgh circa 1920Never seen this before and it’s quite amazing. Looks more like a painting.
• China Viewed From Above – The AtlanticDrones can capture some stunning images.
• Solo: A Star Wars Story Official Trailer – YouTubeNot sure about this film – I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
• twitter.com90’s Avengers – this would have been awesome.
• The End of Reality – The AtlanticFake news has dominated the last couple of years…but fake video would be so much worse.
• What smartphone photography is doing to our memories – VoxStay in the present!
• Think Critical: Apple Software is like Windows HardwareCan’t disagree with this. Sad.

Life
Great week off. Lots done, couple of trips out and about around Scotland and a couple of new toys as well. Made the best of the improving weather – finally feels like Spring!

Media
Save Me finished strong, pleased it’s got a second series.
Deep State – enjoyable first episode. Well worth a watch.

Links

• I offered to draw people. Then 5000 people said yes.
  Over the last few days, I’ve said this line to myself hundreds of times. I’ve scrolled through name after name, studied bios, examined photographs, and then I’ve put pen to paper and started drawing…
  Great story…be careful what you offer on Twitter!
• DNS Resolvers Performance compared: CloudFlare x Google x Quad9 x OpenDNS
  A couple of months ago I did a performance comparison between some of the top free DNS Resolvers available. It was just after Quad9 had launched and I was trying to decide which one to use and…
  Switched to CloudFlare this week and no issues…just rock solid and fast DNS.
• Outrageous! Cristiano Ronaldo scores his best-ever goal with insane overhead kick against Juventus – YouTubeAmazing goal…gets better every time you watch it.
• Making the Touch Bar finally useful :: By abandoning crappy Apple guidelines :: vas3k’s blogIf I had a Touch Bar MacBook I’d be doing this – love it.
• Justinfication on Twitter: “Wow, I’ve seen/heard a lot of MLK footage but this is the first time I’ve seen this interview. How profound this is. https://t.co/Lm8SR2z3bT”Powerful…must watch.
• Facebook Building 8 explored data sharing agreement with hospitals
  Facebook’s Building 8 team approached top hospitals about a data-sharing agreement, but the plan has been put on pause after the Cambridge Analytica data leak scandal.
  Facebook looking shadier as the days go by.
• Facebook retracted Zuckerberg’s messages from recipients’ inboxes | TechCrunchAnd speaking of shady.
• Twitter might wreck third-party apps in June – The VergeJust after this story broke Twitter said they wouldn’t make the switch in June and would give third party developers a 90 day notice of change…but I have the fear of what they will deliver. Hate the official Twitter app.
• The fall of Milo Yiannopoulos | Spectator USAGreat writing, hateful person.
• The End of Windows – Stratechery by Ben ThompsonMicrosofts strategic moves paying off…interesting to see Apple rumours pointing to one O/S as well.
• The dots do matter: how to scam a Gmail userI see a lot of this and I do think Google should do more.
• Nikon versus Canon: A Story Of Technology Change – Learning By ShippingThey both still have the market share but are so slow to move compared with Sony and Fuji.
• How to Find New Music You’ll Actually LikeI have access to more music than ever…and find discovery harder than ever.

Life
Looking forward to a quieter week off from work. Kicked off early yesterday with a trip up to Glencoe. Didn’t quite get the weather but still a stunning bit of the country to visit as long as you avoid the tourist spots which were mobbed.

Media
Homeland is on point this series…building nicely.
Annihilation was a great watch on Netflix, shame it didn’t make a cinema release in the UK.

Links

• Cutting ‘Old Heads’ at IBMWhat a waste of talent. Shameful.
• Jim Reekes: The Apple sound designer who created SosumiHow many people will have heard the sounds he created? Billions?
• Johnson apologises for ‘sexist’ reference to Emily Thornberry | Politics | The GuardianBercow slaps Boris…about time.
• Westworld Season 2 | Official Trailer | HBO – YouTubeWar’s coming.
• Earth’s Wonders Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before – Planet Stories – MediumGreat pics.
• RSS Readers Are Due for a Comeback: Feedly, The Old Reader, Inoreader | WIRED
  After years of letting algorithms make up our minds for us, the time is right to go back to basics.
  RSS has never went away for me. Love Inoreader.
• How America’s Largest Local TV Owner Turned Its News Anchors Into Soldiers In Trump’s War On The MediaDystopian future is already here. Shcoker.
• If Corbyn is not to appear a passenger in his own party, he must learn to lead | Helen Lewis | Opinion | The Guardian
  If Labour is to stamp out antisemitism, its leader must act with integrity
  Can’t believe this is being so badly handled. Corbyn needs to step up.
• Top Facebook Executive Defended Data Collection In 2016 Memo — And Warned That Facebook Could Get People KilledSuch a scummy company – true colours coming out now.
• How Europe’s new privacy rule is reshaping the internet – The VergeEurope doing us all a favour…again.
• Where’s the iCloud storage bump for the rest of us? – Six ColorsApple should be doing so much more. Buy an iPhone? We’ll back everything up for you, do it securely and won’t use or sell your data.