Weekly Digest

Life
Work done for the year and it’s 2 1/2 weeks off. Boom. Looking forward to…doing very little to be honest. Need a recharge. I do have an itch though – mechanical keyboards. It may happen.

Media
The Last Jedi. No spoilers apart from I really enjoyed it despite there being some cheese and also being a tad long. Interesting that the film is so polarising, critics love it but some hate it. Combination of the film not pandering to fan’s (and their many many theories), some flaws if you think about it for more than a minute and maybe the non-PC brigade being annoyed that their heroes are no longer white males? Or maybe it’s just not for everyone. Hey ho. Well worth catching on an IMAX near you.

Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds – Hot game of the year finally hit the Xbox last week. It’s a mess. Poor frame rates, lag through the game, a real hack of a PC control system on the Xbox, crashes…yet I love it. Aim is to survive and there’s many many ways to do that. Start with 99 competitors and be the last to survive. I’ve got down to the final four but I find the gameplay really addictive, and this is with only one map. It’s been released as an Xbox preview so expect it to improve over the coming months. Reminds me of old Ghost Recon games. Lots of hiding and prepping for the odd skirmish but with a larger map, time pressures and vehicles.

Links

• Exclusive interview: Apple’s Phil Schiller on how the iPhone X ‘seemed impossible at the start’ | T3
  Always like it when Apple exec’s talk to the press even if it’s really controlled.
• NYC Drone Photos by Humza Deas
  Stunning drones shots even though a couple are over-processed…but they look so pretty.
• You Give Up a Lot of Privacy Just Opening Emails. Here’s How to Stop It | WIRED
  Billions of emails are opened every day by people who have never consented to be tracked, but are being tracked nonetheless.
  Great. So blocking in browsers and the rise of e-mail newsletters has just moved the problem.
• Former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya: “You don’t realize it, but you are being programmed” — Quartz
  Of course we are.
• Estonia, the Digital Republic | The New Yorker
  Its government is virtual, borderless, blockchained, and secure. Has this tiny post-Soviet nation found the way of the future?
  The digital work in Estonia is so smart. Light years ahead of what the UK is doing.
• FT Person of the Year: Susan Fowler
  The software engineer who lifted the lid on sexual harassment at Uber and inspired women to speak out 
  Hell yeah. Well done FT.
• Google – Year In Search 2017
  I’ve seen some comments that this is a political message from Google and they should focus on positive messages…it’s a year in review video and for much of 2017 it’s felt pretty fucked up.
• Finlay’s Christmas Wish – YouTube
  There’s something in my eye. Well done BA.