Category: Weekly digest

Life
Tired. Looking forward to week off work…5 days and counting.

Media
Shetland – belter of a series with strong actors and a great story. Unlike so many other drama’s it finished strong. Stephen Walters was amazing – hope it’s recognised.
The Funeral Murders – Documentary on the Troubles and the funerals in March 1988. Timing in amongst brexit negotiations made it feel all the more relevant. If you missed it catch it on iPlayer.
Lady Bird – loved it.

Links

• Thousands join March for Our Lives anti-gun protests around the world | US news | The GuardianInspiring especially the speeches from the kids.
• Revealed: Trump’s election consultants filmed saying they use bribes and sex workers to entrap politicians – Channel 4 NewsFilthy business.
• Here’s the transcript of Recode’s interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the Cambridge Analytica controversy and more – RecodeThe only tough interview that Zuckerberg did over the last few days.
• How can Facebook change when it exists to exploit personal data?This is the problem with Facebook. It’s mission is to make money from our data.
• Angela Haggerty: Dear internet, instead of wearing your tinfoil hat ask intelligent questions | HeraldScotlandApplies to so much of what we do online and take for granted.
• 12 Things Everyone Should Understand About Tech – Humane Tech – MediumWorth a read – some great points made here.
• Police spies helped create employee ‘blacklist’ for UK companies, force admits | EuronewsBastards. This is lowest of the low.
• Sony world photography awards 2018 – in pictures | Art and design | The GuardianInspiring photo’s. I need to get out with my camera more.
• Valley Forged: How One Man Made the Indie Video Game Sensation ‘Stardew Valley’ | GQGreat interview of an amazing developer.
• This Look Inside Spike Jonze’s Apple Ad Is as Fascinating as the Film Itself – AdweekInteresting behind the scenes of the best ad in ages.
• The New 2018 F1 Theme by Brian Tyler – YouTubeF1 is back and with a theme tune now. Think Champions League. They need a more exciting product though as today’s race was poor – qualifying was more exciting!
• Deadpool 2 | The Trailer – YouTubeLooking good.
• SICARIO, Day of the Soldado – Official Trailer (HD) – YouTubeSicario was great…and I’m hoping for another strong film although the trailer gives too much away methinks.

Life
Getting tired of the weather…looking forward to a week off at Easter which will hopefully be snow free.

Media
SMILF is pretty damn funny. Save Me is still the best thing on TV at the moment.

Links

• Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2018
  Get insights on the world’s developers from the largest and most comprehensive survey ever. Demographics. Technologies. Salaries. Career satisfaction.
  Love reading this every year. Still shocking how male dominated the industry is.
• twitter.comPowerful message from Dunblane.
• Holy mountains haloed by drone lightGreat pics thanks to a drone
• Leaving the “Series 0” Apple Watch Behind – MacStoriesMine is really struggling with battery life. Hoping to eek it out until new models later in the year.
• Make your own map background – Alvar CartoNice wallpaper generator.
• Teacher who used a chalkboard in a computer class with no computers, stars at Microsoft’s Education Exchange – Asia News CenterThe chalk screen mockups are amazing. Well done MS.
• Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War – Official Trailer – YouTubeTickets booked, looking forward to this as the trailers give nothing much away.
• CGI In MoviesSo much CGI in movies nowadays but if used well it doesn’t get in the way. However for every good example there’s a Superman lip horror. Hopefully Thanos in Avengers isn’t a step too far.
• iOS 11 bugs are so common they now appear in Apple ads | The VergeCan’t believe the adverts showed a bug. Wow.
• Stephen Hawking Dies at 76; His Mind Roamed the Cosmos – The New York TimesMassive loss. Impact he made will be felt for generations.
• ‘I made Steve Bannon’s psychological warfare tool’: meet the data war whistleblower | News | The Guardian
  Christopher Wylie goes on the record to discuss his role in hijacking the profiles of millions of Facebook users in order to target the US electorate
  Facebook won’t come out of this well.
• Tim Berners-Lee: we must regulate tech firms to prevent ‘weaponised’ web | Technology | The GuardianMight be one way of curbing their power. Hard to do.
• This Is What Happens When Bitcoin Miners Take Over Your Town – POLITICO MagazineComing to conclusion that Bitcoin is a fad.
• Why Equitable Maps Are More Accurate and Humane – CityLabLove a good maps story.

Life
First signs of spring proper. Longer and warmer days and the snow has thawed a lot quicker than expected. Nice.

Media
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – loved it. Strong acting throughout, great characters and a story that hooked.
American Made – Tom Cruise on typical form but this was pretty forgetable.
Justice League – Complete piss. Watched again in case the cinema viewing was an off day, but no. Crap writing, some poor acting, a terrible plot and some unforgivable CGI – not just Henry Cavill’s lip.

Links

• Oscars 2018: Roger Deakins wins best cinematography for Blade Runner 2049 – The VergeFinally. On his 14th nomination Deakins finally gets the big prize.
• HomePod — Welcome Home by Spike Jonze — Apple – YouTubeNot sold on the HomePod, but this is an amazing advert from Apple.
• How Two Photographers Unknowingly Shot the Same Millisecond in Time
  Photography and Camera News, Reviews, and Inspiration
  What are the chances!
• A Lot Can Happen in a Decade • The BreakroomAnother iPhone anniversary post. Great read and spawned a great repsonse on twitter from other dev’s.
• For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers. Here’s What I Learned. – The New York TimesSurprising? All down to what you read.
• This Huge Leak of WhatsApp Chats Reveals The Full Fury Of The Tories’ Brexit SplitWhat a mess. If it wasn’t so serious I’d be chuckling about the Tory infighting.
• Londoner denied NHS cancer care: ‘It’s like I’m being left to die’ | UK news | The GuardianFucking shameful.
• MiniDisc: The Best Thing That Never Happened To Your Music – YouTubeI loved the MiniDisc. It was the future and I was all in. Personal player, seperate at home and an in car MiniDisc player. Shame it failed.
• twitter.comI wonder whats different about Serena? Horrible behaviour.
• Glasgow’s oldest street will be desecrated, its built heritage disfigured | Kevin McKenna | Opinion | The GuardianA disgrace that this is continually allowed to happen in Glasgow along with the mysterious fires that seem to happen to old protected buildings when developers want to build on their sites.
• Channel 4 News on TwitterMhairi Black with another powerful speech. Don’t agree with some of her views but love her fight and passion and strength.
• Falcon Heavy & Starman – YouTubeLoved this.

Life
The Beast from the East was quite the thing. Don’t think I’ve seen snow like that since I was a kid. The snow looks lovely at first but bored with it now. Decided to take the bus into work on Wednesday which didn’t show so an interesting 3 mile walk into work…only to be sent home 40 minutes later. Still the thaw has finally started…slowly.

Media
Save Me on Sky – best start to a new drama in a long time. Looking forward to the rest of the series (all available now as a box set if you can’t wait).

Walking Dead……zzz…zzz.

Links

• Chadwick Boseman Surprises Black Panther Fans While They Thank Him – YouTubeStill thinking about Black Panther and this will put a smile on your face if you’ve watched it or not. Spoiler free!
• Trump Stuns Lawmakers With Seeming Embrace of Comprehensive Gun Control – The New York TimesGuy’s a loon. Folk around the table didn’t know if he was beign serious. Idiot.
• Twitter is rethinking everything. At last.
  Jack Dorsey got brutally honest all of a sudden.
  An honest tech CEO. Wow.
• Photos: The “Beast From the East” Freezes Europe – The Atlantic
  A blast of freezing weather called the “Beast from the East” has gripped most of Europe this week, bringing snowstorms and icy conditions as far south as the Mediterranean.
  Wasn’t just the UK that got hit by the beast.
• Nintendo Switch, one year on • Eurogamer.netOne year on…great console. Maybe I should get my first thoughts post done!
• Revisiting The Wire 10 years on | Den of GeekTime for a rewatch soon.
• Notes on the Kelpies – Bigmouth Strikes AgainThis would be great. Really need to visit them – never been.
• James Bond, cricket and King Arthur feature on new 10p coins revealed by Royal MintCringe. Celebrating queueing. Feck me. Little fucking Britain.
• Why I Quit Google to Work for Myself – Silly BitsProblem of any big company. Good read.
• 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2018 – MIT Technology ReviewSome tech to keep your eyes on.
• How To Beat Procrastination (backed by science) – The Blog Of Darius Foroux – MediumEveryone suffers it…and here’s how to beat it. Now, about that Switch review.
• Amazon is complicit with counterfeiting (updated) | ElevationLabAmazon have been complicit for years. Similar happened with the fidget cube and other products.

Life
After a really busy few weeks I did absolutely nothing this weekend…and loved it 🙂 Scotland winning in the rugby was an added bonus.

Media
Still thinking about Black Panther while listening to the two albums of music that came out alongside the film. Both really good.

Alto’s Odyssey is now out on iOS. Great game that looks and sounds good and has that addictive ‘one more go’ gameplay.

Enjoying Shetland again on the BBC – need to visit at somepoint.

Links

• The Force of Sound: Creating sounds in galaxy far, far away Video – ABC NewsNot long until Last Jedi drops on Blu-Ray – this will tide you over until then.
• I met a spaceman – HAPPILY IMPERFECTGreat read…wish I’d picked up a ticket for this.
• The #1 reason Facebook won’t ever change – Om MalikScummy company.
• How Trump Conquered Facebook Without Russian Ads | WIREDAs I said, scummy company.
• Why Can Everyone Spot Fake News But The Tech Companies?Seems obvious, but is it?
• Salah, Pogba, Özil … the Muslim heroes of English football | World news | The GuardianGreat to see fan’s opinions changing but it has taken far far too long.
• Why Apple Is The World’s Most Innovative CompanyNot convinced they are to be honest. They make great products but when you can’t buy an Apple laptop with a reliable keyboard then they have problems.
• Here’s What It’s Like At The Headquarters Of The Teens Working To Stop Mass ShootingsFeels different this time and this is one of the reasons why.
• Be a Pal, My Dudes – Mule Design Studio – MediumWork with women? Then read this and follow the real world advice.

Life
Lighter mornings and nights are coming – nearly at the point where the drive to work is in daylight which makes a MASSIVE difference. Loving the Olympics so far. The Winter varient is always more wacky and fun but still at it’s core an Olympics.

Media
Enjoyed Black Panther. One of the better Marvel films, it looks and sounds terrific. Refreshing to have such a strong black cast and also such a strong female cast as well. Letitia Wright playing Shuri stole the film with some of the best lines.

Caught up on Star Trek Discovery and slightly underwhelmed with the final episode. Still enjoyed the overall series.

Links

• A Detailed Timeline of The IMAGE Mission Recovery | NASAA great story – never give up!
• Daring Fireball: The Threat to the Mac: the Growing Popularity of Non-Native AppsLet Mac’s be Mac’s! Strangling of the platform and the mess that is the Mac App store really hampers the Mac.
• Inside Facebook’s Hellish Two Years—and Mark Zuckerberg’s Struggle to Fix it All | WIREDNo wonder he’s focussing on Facebook this year.
• Google’s nemesis: meet the British couple who took on a giant, won… and cost it £2.1 billion | WIRED UKDo no evil…my arse.
• Super-G: snowboarder Ledecka wins shock gold on borrowed skis with Vonn sixth | Sport | The Guardian
  Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka shredded to a shock gold medal in the women’s super-G on skis borrowed from American star Mikaela Shiffrin
  What a story…and her reaction at the end was priceless.
• FA Cup: Mata’s goal ruled out by VAR at Huddersfield in the FA Cup fifth round – BBC Sport
  Manchester United are denied a 2-0 lead following a controversial VAR decision.
  VAR so far has been a mess. Fans can’t see whats going on and this decision was just laughable. Probably wrong and wobbly lines although the team today say they released the wrong graphics for the TV audience. Video evidence is the right way to go, but it needs to be better than this. It works for rugby.
• Opinion | What Congress Has Accomplished Since the Sandy Hook Massacre – The New York Times
  More than 1,600 mass shootings have taken place in America since then.
  Damning. Never has it been so obvious that something needs to be done…and yet nothing will.
• “Black Panther” and the Invention of “Africa” | The New YorkerOnly read if you’ve watched the film.
• ‘Black Panther’ Is Marvel’s First Genuine Masterpiece – The RingerAgain, one that stays pretty spoiler free but makes much more sense if you’ve seen the film.
• The wonderful sounds of black ice skatingAn amazing sound – would never have suspected it.
• How iFixit Became the World’s Best iPhone Teardown Team – YouTubeWhat a great video – behind the scene’s of a teardown.

Life
Sore heads have hit back this week out of nowhere…good to get out and about with camera and drone today even if the weather wasn’t the best. Onwards.

Media
Derry Girls finished this week with a bang. Loved it and well worth catching if you haven’t already. Hard Sun and McMafia also bid farewell…neither really hit the mark.

Links

• Watch Top Super Bowl Videos – YouTube – YouTube
  Watch and Cheer for your favorite Super Bowl videos on YouTube AdBlitz! For the full experience visit: https://www.youtube.com/adblitz
  Some great adverts from last weeks superbowl – trailers alone were pretty good.
• Elon Musk on how Falcon Heavy will change space travel – YouTubeFalcon Heavy launch was amazing.
• SpaceX (@spacex) | Unsplash Photo Community
  See the best free to download photos, images, and wallpapers by SpaceX on Unsplash.
  Photo’s from the Falcon Heavy launch.
• The Incredible Sounds of the Falcon Heavy Launch (BINAURAL AUDIO IMMERSION) – Smarter Every Day 189 – YouTubeThis video was the best (for me) from the launch. Watch with headphones – its amazing. Must try and watch a launch/landing live one day.
• How a Low-Level Apple Employee Leaked Some of the iPhone’s Most Sensitive Code – MotherboardAnother week, another security problem for Apple.
• NOTHING BEATS A LONDONER – YouTubeStunning ad from Nike.
• No one’s coming. It’s up to us. – Dan Hon – MediumCall to arms!
• Why Paper Jams Persist | The New YorkerPhotocopiers are the worst. Hateful.
• The House That Spied on MeI love me some smart home gadgets but this is a cautionary tale.

Life
Another week, another cold. This was a full on snot ridden mother of a cold but it’s passing now. Finally.

Media
Watched Detroit this week. Powerful and hard to watch in places but magnificent at the same time. Caught up on the last few Star Trek Discovery episodes. Since it’s break it has really hit it’s stride with surprising twists and some great stories.

Also watched the first two episodes of Altered Carbon. It looks amazing but leans a little too much on Blade Runner. Not sure if it’s just a typical cop drama dressed in sci-fi clothes.

Links

• The Government’s Own Brexit Analysis Says The UK Will Be Worse Off In Every Scenario Outside The EUOf course it does. Although like anything Brexit this is now being spun as a Remain plot. Sad.
• Mute | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix – YouTubeLooks good, hopefully more Moon than Warcraft.
• Bitcoin, Blockchain, and the Trouble with ICOs | WIREDAnother week, another hot take.
• Australian teen skier Jade Hameister fires comeback at online trolls – CNN
  She posted a photo of her holding a plate with a ham and cheese sandwich. “I made you a sandwich … now ski 37 days and 600 km to the South Pole and you can eat it.”
  Eat that trolls.
• 2017 SKYPIXEL PHOTO CONTESTEvery year sees drone photography step up a level. Great pictures here.
• This Is Why Uma Thurman Is Angry – The New York TimesPowerful…how can that man still be in denial?
• Here’s Why Alexa Won’t Light Up During Amazon Super Bowl Ad – BloombergAmazon smarts again.
• Tractor Hacking: The Farmers Breaking Big Tech’s Repair Monopoly – YouTubeThis is how I feel about cars too – criminal that owners can’t look after their own equipment.
• The Power of RAW on iPhone, Part 2: Editing RAW – HalideUseful tips on how to take better photo’s on the iPhone.
• Yale’s Most Popular Class Ever: Happiness – The New York TimesSomething we all need…more happiness.
• Michael Mosley: ‘Forget walking 10,000 steps a day’ – BBC NewsI’ve never stuck to the 10,000 steps a day, but I do like to get 30 mins of activity a day either in chunks or with a longer walk. Need to keep active.

Life
Just got over the last cold and another one has kicked in. Nice! Also got my new car on Friday – nicer! More on that in another post soon…probably November.

Media
Watched Wind River through the week and loved it – well worth catching if you haven’t seen it.

Links

• Malala and Apple launch partnership to get at least 100,000 underprivileged girls into school | The Independent
  A groundbreaking new partnership has been launched between the Malala Fund and Apple to get at least 100,000 underprivileged girls into education.
  Good way of using some of that cash pile.
• We Are Truly Fucked: Everyone Is Making AI-Generated Fake Porn Now – Motherboard
  A user-friendly application has resulted in an explosion of convincing face-swap porn.
  This is unreal. Some of the results are very believable.
• Building a Lightroom PC — PaulStamatiou.com
  Why I switched to Windows 10 from macOS and built a water-cooled and overclocked 5.2GHz 6-core PC for photo editing with Adobe Lightroom Classic CC.
  Love this, although the next post has to be this $6000 PC vs an iMac Pro.
• Men Only: Inside the charity fundraiser where hostesses are put on show
  FT investigation finds groping and sexual harassment at secretive black-tie dinner
  Disgusting…and how many other events like these still take place?
• Burger King – Ever heard of Whopper Neutrality? Well, Burger King…Well played Burger King.
• The Follower Factory – The New York TimesGreat article, both for how it’s been researched and also presented.
• The Empire Strikes Back | FilmGrabSo many great looking stills – what a film.
• Apple in 2017: The Six Colors report card – Six ColorsGood summary of Apple in 2017.
• Fitness tracking app gives away location of secret US army bases | Technology | The GuardianWow…loose lips and all that.
• Beyond the Bitcoin Bubble – The New York TimesMy first coin purchases will be in the next few days. Just playing.
• Forget About Siri and Alexa — When It Comes to Voice Identification, the “NSA Reigns Supreme”Scary.
• Xの壁紙/The X – Mysterious iPhone WallpaperIf you’ve got an iPhone X then try these wallpapers – great effect when you swipe home.
• Massive vintage movie poster collection is being digitized and made available onlineSo many great posters. Lost hours here.
• iPad launch insightGreat thread on the iPad launch.
• Impossible GameWhat a bastard game – out on iOS.

Life
Always like a wee bit of snow over a winter but we’ve had quite enough this year now. Does make for good photo’s though. Looks like new car in around 5 weeks…toys ahead!

Media
Enjoying Derry Girls on C4 and shocked that one of the girls is 31 in real life. Wowsers. McMafia is no Night Manager though. Yawn.

Links

• ongoing by Tim Bray · Google Memory LossAlways thought Google was the biggest and best search engine? Nope.
• A New Old Skywalker – Joseph Gordon-Levitt – MediumMore hot takes on The Last Jedi, this one though has a wee bit more to it.
• How Sierra and a Disgraced Cop Made the Most Reactionary Game of the 90s – Waypoint
  In the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots that ruined his reputation, Daryl Gates found himself in a point-and-click professional afterlife.
  Loved this.
• Zombie – Cranberries MTV Unplugged – YouTubeLove The Cranberries – really sad news that Dolores O’Riordan passed this week. Her voice was so distintive.
• Escape Kits: Real-Life British Spy Gadgets from World War II – Core77Real world James Bond stuff. Great read.
• Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories – The New York Times
  A photographer captures a colorful world of craft and complexity.
  Who doesn’t love some stationary porn.
• Jordan Peterson debate on the gender pay gap, campus protests and postmodernism – YouTube30 minutes and a passionate debate, but the hate that Cathy Newman recieved is a disgrace.
• ArtStation – Paul ChadeissonIf only future freighters would look like this. Amazing.
• Jeremy Corbyn under pressure to shift Labour policy on Brexit | Politics | The GuardianHuge opportunity for Labour…will they grab it? Members certainly want it but will Corbyn?
• Gorgeous 50-megapixel panoramas shot on an iPhone at 20,000 feetCan’t believe these were shot on an iPhone. Wow.
• CES 2018: Real Advances, Real Progress, Real QuestionsA (very) long summation of CES – interesting take on what’s next.