Year: 2017

Life
The weeks are flying by. Work is busy, health is fair to middling and there’s never enough time to do what I want. turning attention to some projects around the house – shit needs fixing.

Media
Guardians of the Galaxy 2 was pretty fantastic. Made me laugh, the visuals were top notch and the 3D wasn’t bad. Add on another great soundtrack and there’s not much to hate. Yes it follows a formula, but when done well it’s not an issue for me.

Also watched Nightcrawler (from 2014). What a great but creepy/disturbing film.

Links

• PSA: If you opened your PayPal account before you were 18, close it now.
  Everyone knows a horror story about PayPal, I’ve had several painful experiences with them over the last decade, but now I’ll never have to experience that again, as I’ve just been permanently banned…
  PayPal are such a shitty company. Avoid them if at all possible.
• Earth From Above – Earth From Above
  Aerial photography has really taken off now that drones are affordable and the camera’s on them are so good. Some of these images are jaw dropping.
• Elon Musk: The future we’re building — and boring | TED Talk | TED.com
  This just sounds bonkers.
• Diane Abbott’s Agonising Interview Over Police Policy Cost – LBC
  Diane Abbott being Diane Abbott. The problem with Labour isn’t just Jeremy Corbyn, but that his top team are not of the right calibre to run a country. She followed up with another car crash interview later in the week.
• You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you – The Oatmeal
  Take 10 minutes to read this. Stunning.
• Damage – Matt Gemmell
  Apple’s destruction of the value of software, and the sustainability of indie developer businesses.
  Hard to disagree with this. Software has so little value for so many people and the App Store hasn’t done enough to combat that perception.
• SQL is 43 years old – here’s 8 reasons we still use it today | The Official SQLizer Blog
  In this year’s Stack Overflow Developer’s Survey 64,000 developers laid bare their innermost developer secrets. How they learn, the tools they use, what they…
  Still love SQL.
• Don’t Let Facebook Make You Miserable – The New York Times
  Raw Google search data proves that we are not who we say we are on social media.
  Social media can be bad for your health…
• Report: Facebook helped advertisers target teens who feel “worthless” [Updated] | Ars Technica
  Leaked 2017 document reveals FB Australia’s intent to exploit teens’ words, images.
  And allegedly Facebook will target your misery…although they do deny the story, but they would, wouldn’t they?
• Regulating the internet giants: The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data | The Economist
  A NEW commodity spawns a lucrative, fast-growing industry, prompting antitrust regulators to step in to restrain those who control its flow. A century ago, the resource in question was oil. Now similar concerns are being raised by the giants that deal in data, the oil of the digital era.
  Thought provoking, especially in this age where news spreads so quickly, almost nothing is fact checked and the mob can rule.
• The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked
  Some great reporting on the sites behind fake news.
• Laura Galante: How to exploit democracy | TED Talk | TED.com
  Hacking, fake news, information bubbles … all these and more have become part of the vernacular in recent years. But as cyberspace analyst Laura Galante describes in this alarming talk, the real target of anyone looking to influence geopolitics is dastardly simple: it’s you.
  Video of the week.
• Nike’s Quest to Beat the Two-Hour Marathon Comes Up Oh So Short | WIRED
  It was close, but the two-hour marathon remains unbroken. For now.
  What an amazing run. The times are mind boggling.
• Introducing Microsoft Surface Laptop – YouTube
  This could easily be an Apple advert…except it’s using a modern CPU.

Life
Another busy week at work and at home and little flair up in health but it’s a holiday weekend so all is good. It’s also, ever so slightly, starting to warm up. Finally.

Media
Line of Duty has just finished. Another strong series…can’t wait for the 5th.
Big Little Lies also finished this week and it was a great watch. Catch up with it if you can and hopefully they will just leave it there with no follow up.
Mario Kart on the Switch – spot on and yet another amazing title for the Switch.

Links

• Jimmy Wales goes after fake news with Wikitribune | WIRED UK
  Interesting step to try and combat fake news. Even that term pisses me off thanks to Trump.
• Google Rewrites Its Powerful Search Rankings to Bury Fake News – Bloomberg
  Google isn’t planning to rid fake news from its search results — but it’s trying to purge it from the top.
  Google has to tak action, but not sure that this is a long term solution.
• Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj White House Correspondents’ Dinner full monologue – YouTube
  Daily Show correspondent Hasan Minhaj took full advantage of Donald Trump’s absence by taking aim at the president and his administration during his monologu…
  Trump hid from the correspondents dinner, as it suits his narrative that the media is the enemy and purveyors of fake news. Hasan Minhaj shone in his absence.
• Watch this incredible, rare video of the streets of North Korea’s capital city
  Finnish journalist Mika Mäkeläinen captured rare video of daily life in the Hermit Kingdom, Vox reports.
  North Korea looks…normal.
• Apple Dubai Mall opens April 27 – Apple
  Apple premieres its newest store, Apple Dubai Mall, overlooking the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Fountain.
  Another destination store from Apple – this opening windows!
• How Online Shopping Makes Suckers of Us All – The Atlantic
  Will you pay more for those shoes before 7 p.m.? Would the price tag be different if you lived in the suburbs? Standard prices and simple discounts are giving way to far more exotic strategies, designed to extract every last dollar from the consumer.
  Holds up hand – I’ve been duped.
• Heineken | Worlds Apart | #OpenYourWorld – YouTube
  Heineken presents ‘Worlds Apart’ An Experiment. Can two strangers with opposing views prove that there’s more that unites than divides us? #OpenYourWorld Fin…
  Great advert…but are they real people or actors?
• Deacon Blue’s iconic Raintown album cover showing Glasgow’s skyline gets modern makeover 30 years on – Daily Record
  Oscar Marzaroli’
  30 years since Raintown, a favourite album of mine. The almost 60 years of change in the photo is also interesting.
• Vuelo nocturno – The magic of flying at night – Beyond The Clouds – An Airline pilot’s journey
  Lose yourself in the video. Gorgeous.

Life
Another quiet week, nothing much happening in the world and then boom – another election. The next 8 weeks or so will be very interesting…if not a little tiring. I’m election jaded.

Media
Line of Duty is firing on all cylinders – can’t wait for tonights episode. Shout out to Homeland which also had a really strong series this year. If you dropped it after Brody died it’s well worth catching up with.

Links

• Fairytale Prisoner by Choice: The Photographic Eye of Melania Trump
  Why won’t the first lady show up for her job? Why? I became obsessed with this question and eventually looked to Melania’s Twitter history for answers. I noticed that in the three-year period between…
  Amazing article on Melania Trump by analysing her photography. What a contrast to Michelle Obama.
• Vigilante botnet infects IoT devices before blackhats can hijack them | Ars Technica
  Hajime battles with Mirai for control over the Internet of poorly secured things.
  The botnet wars have started.
• The Flickr Explore page is still really amazing
  I’m still a Flickr member and while I worry about it’s future, I’m loathe to leave. I also agree, I do still love the Explore page.
• These are the Winners of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards
  Photography and Camera News, Reviews, and Inspiration
  Wow.
• All I Want for the UK’s General Election This Year | Civicist
  It will never happen but it’s a noble aim.
• Dawn Butler MP struggles through interview – BBC News – YouTube
  Labour MP Dawn Butler has struggled to explain her party’s policies during an interview with Eddie Mair on Radio 4’s PM programme. The former minister also a…
  Embarrassing, and sums up a lot of whats wrong with Labour.
• The web’s most useful tools and sites
  Some obvious entries but still a great selection of tools.
• BHS crash sets trend for a chain of closures on UK high streets | Business | The Guardian
  The retail sector is still reeling a year after the collapse of the chain, with rising numbers of staff on zero-hours contracts and other big hitters shutting shop as the internet squeezes their share of profits
  The change over the last decade is obvious…and the high street in Glasgow is very different with more changes on the way. Sauchiehall Street is a mess now.
• The Countries Most (and Least) Likely to be Affected by Automation
  What percent of tasks in your country could be done by machines?
  More change coming.
• What if we’re living in a computer simulation? | Technology | The Guardian
  Interesting theory…but complete bollocks in my view.
• Uber’s C.E.O. Plays With Fire – The New York Times
  Travis Kalanick’s drive to win in life has led to a pattern of risk-taking that has at times put his ride-hailing company on the brink of implosion.
  More crap from Uber. Apple should throw them out the Appstore.
• Steve Lacy Produced That Hot Kendrick Lamar Track Using Only His iPhone | WIRED
  Lacy’s smartphone has been his personal studio since he first started making music.
  So much talent.

Life
Busy week followed by a short holiday weekend. Trip to Barrow on Thursday, long drive but great day. Also picked up a new camera lens today. Well, I will do when Amazon delivers later on. Prime wins again.

Media
Re-watched Rogue One. Good, not great but between that and the new trailers I can’t wait for Last Jedi.

Still plodding through Zelda – what a game.

Links

• A Man Was Dragged Off A United Plane After The Airline Overbooked The Flight
  Still amazed that it took United over a day to say sorry. Disgraceful.
• How the BBC’s truth offensive beat Hitler’s propaganda machine | World news | The Guardian
  Rings more true given the last 18 months…stop being balanced, just tell the truth!
• AutoDraw
  This is a great tool from Google. Start doodling and more times than not the tool will give you a better version of what you were trying to draw.
• Technology is a marvel – now let’s make it moral | Martha Lane Fox | Opinion | The Guardian
  Sensible – yes. Enforceable – not so sure.
• Theft and Loss Recovery for iOS Users
  A post about theft and recovery from Fraser Speirs and it’s worth checking how you would recover from a similar situation. After reading I’m having to make a couple of changes to make sure I’m not totally locked out from all my accounts and devices.
• An Illustrated History of iOS
  Tower Blog – About Web and Software Development, Marketing and Design
  Nice summary of the improvements in iOS over the years. What will 11 bring in a few weeks time?
• Webstock ‘17: Cal Henderson – Emoji for fun and profit on Vimeo
  By 2020, all written language will have been supplanted by emoji. But how did it come to this? To understand how emoji work, you first need to learn a little bit…
  Nice explainer on the origins of emoji.
• Self Reflected – Greg Dunn Design
  Beautiful visualisation of the human brain.
• New Full-hemisphere Views of Earth at Night | NASA
  New pictures form Nasa of the earth at night.
• Thor: Ragnarok Teaser Trailer [HD] – YouTube
  This November, Thor: Ragnarok. Watch the teaser trailer now!
  What a great trailer, no doubt the best we’ll see this week…
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi Official Teaser – YouTube
  Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Arriving in your galaxy December 15.
  Fuck the Thor trailer – it’s Star Wars. Still get excited for new Star Wars films despite those dodgy prequels.
• ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Trailer Breakdown – Film School Rejects
  As ever there’s a lot to pick up from the teaser trailer.
• A Tribute To Carrie Fisher – YouTube
  May the Force be with you.
  There’s a little something in my eye.

Life
In contrast to last week, health a bit more variable which is disappointing. Still keeping active and I’ve a couple of blog posts coming up which are long overdue on my favourite topics – Apple and gaming.

Media
What a week of sport…and there was some F1 too. I chuckled at Bernie’s suggestion that tracks should be artificially made wet…not that funny anymore. Still enjoying Zelda, although playing through at a slow pace.

Links

• The iPad Turnaround Is Coming – Monday Note
  Some good points made here and the iPad is no doubt the volume computer for Apple but it needs to do more especially on the software front.
• Daring Fireball: The Mac Pro Lives
  So un-Apple like to talk about products to come but they’ve dropped the ball and they had to do something. Some interesting choices to make over the next 18 months.
• A Brief History of Design – Microsoft Design – Medium
  It is easy to question everything designed before you when you join a new company. I mean, why the heck would a scroll bar be red in Windows 2.0 … what could they have possibly been thinking?! But…
  Nice summary of design at Microsoft. Some of the older designs bring back fond memories.
• Project Scorpio Exclusive: Final Specs Revealed! – YouTube
  Rich went to Microsoft to see Project Scorpio, talk to the people who made it and see software running. But just how powerful is it? This video reveals all. …
  Finally some specs and a screenshot for the updated Xbox. Looking forward to E3 as this will be my next console and hopefully will address the shortcomings of the Xbox One.
• HoloLems on Vimeo
  HoloLems is a holographic spatial platformer and homage to the classic 90’s video game Lemmings. Put on the Hololens headset and be challenged to safely guide…
  So clever. I wonder if a V2 Hololens, or similar/cheaper, would be part of Project Scorpio?
• How Uber Uses Psychological Tricks to Push Its Drivers’ Buttons – The New York Times
  The start-up has undertaken an extraordinary experiment in behavioral science to subtly entice an independent work force to maximize company revenue.
  Interesting research and the visual design of the article is superb too.
• The Guardian view on Labour and Ken Livingstone: wrong decision, terrible message | Editorial | Opinion | The Guardian
  Livingstone should be expelled…and if Labour can’t govern themselves properly how do they expect to win the voters trust again? Shambles.
• Dani Garavelli: Rape clause shames the benefits system – The Scotsman
  If you have been watching the latest series of Broadchurch, you may have gained the impression that attitudes towards rape are becoming more enlightened. Julie Hesmondhalgh’s portrayal of survivor Trish Winterman challenges misconceptions around the “type” of woman likely to be affected and provides insight into the reasons victims may not report their rape immediately, or indeed at all.
  Tories can bring in heinous laws like this and Labour still can mount an effective opposition.
• EDL Birmingham protest photo woman ‘surprised’ by viral reaction – BBC News
  The image of Saffiyah Khan has been shared thousands of times on social media.
  Amazing photo of an amazing woman.
• A dying habit: why the average BBC1 viewer is 61 | Television & radio | The Guardian
  Broadcasters may be desperate for younger audiences but older telly-watchers dominate – the average ITV fan is 60, 55 if they prefer Channel 4. How worried should programme-makers be?
  Thats a really high average age, much more than I expected. Changing times
• Walt Mossberg is retiring in June – The Verge
  It was a June day when I began my career as a national journalist. I stepped into the Detroit Bureau of The Wall Street Journal and started on what would be a long, varied, rewarding career. I was…
  Walt Mossberg is one of the best tech journalists and will be missed. He does a great podcast, Ctrl-Walt_Delete with Nilay Patel which is worth catching while you can.
• Social entrepreneur Josh Littlejohn: ‘I want to build a utopia for the homeless’ | Society | The Guardian
  Sad that this is needed in this day and age…but when you look at the many homeless people in Glasgow especially around the old BHS in Sauchiehall Street then there’s no doubt it’s needed.

Life
Good week off. Lot’s of walks, a few trips out and about and didn’t spend (much) money for once. Feeling rested.

Media
Line of Duty off to a strong start, Broadchurch also on fire. Looking forward to season finale of Walking Dead…but not the rumours of 20 series. No.

Links

• A robot is burning every one of Donald Trump’s tweets so you don’t have to – The Verge
  Love it.
• Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse | Vanity Fair
  Elon Musk is famous for his futuristic gambles, but Silicon Valley’s latest rush to embrace artificial intelligence scares him. And he thinks you should be frightened too. Inside his efforts to influence the rapidly advancing field and its proponents, and to save humanity from machine-learning overlords.
  Clearly Musk knows whats he is doing…but I’m not sure I agree with linking a human brain to A.I. or that we need it.
• Winners of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards – The Atlantic
  The Sony World Photography Awards has announced the winners of its Open categories and National categories for 2017.
  I think some of my photo’s are OK and then see these. Sigh.
• ‘Batgirl’ Movie: Joss Whedon Directing Solo Film (EXCLUSIVE) | Variety
  Batgirl is getting her own standalone movie, with Joss Whedon writing, directing, and producing.
  This could be the perfect antidote to DC’s current movies which are average at best.
• “Jeremy knows he can’t do the job.” What now for Labour and Britain’s opposition?
  Just go perhaps?
• Iron Man Richard Browning is a real-life Tony Stark | WIRED UK
  The UK inventor built his own flying suit from scratch for £40,000
  Amazing but pretty damn scary at the same time.
• Living under a tarp next to Facebook HQ: ‘I don’t want people to see me’ | US news | The Guardian
  The other half.
• Above Avalon: Apple Is Pushing iPad Like Never Before
  Apple needs to start delivering more on the software side, not just adverts.
• UK passport could turn dark blue after Brexit under £490m contract | UK news | The Guardian
  Passport routinely redesigned every five years and Eurosceptics say burgundy EU passport is a ‘humiliation’
  Brexit bad enough…it’s the emboldened right wingers that are crawling out the woodwork that really wind me up. Fuck off.
• Amber Rudd and Fleet Street Don’t Understand Encryption – Guido Fawkes Techno Guido
  Good write up on whats at stake regarding encryption.
• This object has been sprayed with the world’s blackest material, and it’s freaking us out – ScienceAlert
  Seriously, that’s not Photoshop.
  Wow. Looks like the objects have been photoshopped out. Would love to see this in the flesh.
• 8 Stupid Office Rules That Drive Everyone Crazy | The Huffington Post
  Companies need to have rules—that’s a given—but they don’t have to be shortsighted and lazy attempts at creating order.
  I understand the temptation…
  A couple of corkers in that list…and some that I hope never come into common use.
• After the smoke clears: inside Samsung’s quest for redemption – The Verge
  The Galaxy S8 is Samsung’s most ambitious phone yet
  The design is lovely. Over to you Apple?
• The New Twitter @-Replies Are Giving Me an Ulcer – Motherboard
  Why does Twitter hate itself so much?
  What a mess.
• SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING – Official Trailer #2 (HD) – YouTube
  Does the suit make the man? Watch the all-new #SpiderManHomecoming trailer now and make sure to see it in theaters July 7 🕷️ Subscribe to Sony Pictures for e…
  Have they just given away much of the film?

Life
Enjoying the first signs of summer. Cut grass, painted the gate and enjoyed a couple of warmer walks. Also got the upcoming week of work. Nice.

Media
Still enjoying Zelda – what a game. Also enjoying the portability of the Switch. Gave me something to do while F1 was on this morning.

Links

• Meet The Man Whose Site Mark Zuckerberg Reads Every Day – BuzzFeed News
  For the last decade, Gabe Rivera has been quietly shaping the tech industry’s story for its top executives, investors, and journalists. But…
  Techmeme is one of the few sites I visit daily. Great summary of whats going on in the tech world.
• Andre Agassi: ‘One day your entire way of life ends. It’s a kind of death’ | Donald McRae | Sport | The Guardian
  The former world No1 tells Donald McRae about life after tennis married to Steffi Graf, another of the sport’s biggest names: ‘If I went back in time I would probably retire sooner’
  Agassi was such a superstar and one of those rare beasts…a tennis player with a personality.
• A FICTIVE FLIGHT ABOVE REAL MARS on Vimeo
  The anaglyph images of Mars taken by the HiRISE camera holds information about the topography of Mars surface. There are hundreds of high-resolution images of this…
  Stunning.
• PAPER: Brexit Negotiations
  In his seventh Brexit Challenge Paper, Nick Clegg sets out the challenges facing the UK Government during Brexit Negotiations. Read the paper here:
  Really good article from Nick Clegg (honest!) on reality of Brexit.
• Milo Yiannopoulos Hits Out At Aamer Anwar After Glasgow University Rector Loss | The Huffington Post
  Still annoyed that Mile got any votes from my old Uni, Anwar will make a fine rector though.
• Here are Nigel Farage’s British values: rubbishing London for money on Fox News | Marina Hyde | Opinion | The Guardian
  He talks about ‘respect’, but the rightwing blowhard’s response to the Westminster attack has been tall tales he can only get away with on US TV
  UKIP has no mp’s, he isn’t their leader…and he still gets so much air time. Frustrating…and he’s now turned into right wing America’s British spokesperson. Fuck.
• JUSTICE LEAGUE – Official Trailer 1 – YouTube
  In theaters November 2017 http://ift.tt/2akc2mz http://ift.tt/2alPfnn https://twitter.com/justiceleaguewb https://www.ins…
  Not sure what to think of this.
• Opening Credits: How TV’s Title Sequences Grew Up | WIRED – YouTube
  TV is way better than it used to be and you can say the same thing for the opening titles of your favorite series. They used to be afterthoughts, but now the…
  Love TV intro’s although I think Game of Thrones should be thanked of current trend.
• How Dilbert’s Scott Adams Got Hypnotized by Trump – Bloomberg
  Come to his Dilbert-shaped home. Bite into a Dilberito. Be persuaded on genocide, mental orgasms, and his fellow Master Wizard, the president of the United States.
  Sigh.

Life
So Indyref 2 is on. The polarising once in a generation vote is back on the agenda thanks to Brexit and the SNP. All I’ve learned from two referendums is that you can’t boil 100’s of issues into one simple question and expect an outcome that isn’t divisive. No one knows timescales, whats the question is or what brexit and independence will mean but already Scotland is split. Sigh.

Media
Zelda Breath of the Wild is a great game. Scale os it has surprised me but it’s the little things that I find as I play, almost surprises, that make for such a rich experience.

Links

• Scottish referendum: SNP’s Eilidh Whiteford – Channel 4 News
  This is quite painful to watch but gets to the heart of some of the issues.
• Alex Salmond: I never said independence referendum was ‘once in a lifetime’ | PoliticsHome.com
  Alex Salmond has claimed he never said the first Scottish independence referendum was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity – despite a video showing that he did.
  Arrogant, opportunistic liar.
• Calling Bullshit — Syllabus
  Love this, sums up a lot of whats wrong in tech right now.
• The Cloud’s Software: A Look Inside Backblaze
  “The cloud” is more than just servers in a data center. You need software, too. Here’s a look at some of the software Backblaze relies on.
  I love Backblaze.
• Osborne, an ‘editor of substance’. What substance, crystal meth? | Marina Hyde | Opinion | The Guardian
  Marina Hyde on top form skewering Gideon.
• ‘London Bridge is down’: the secret plan for the days after the Queen’s death | UK news | The Guardian
  The long read: She is venerated around the world. She has outlasted 12 US presidents. She stands for stability and order. But her kingdom is in turmoil, and her subjects are in denial that her reign will ever end. That’s why the palace has a plan.
  Been shared on lots of places, but I found this fascinating – the plans in place for when the Queen dies.
• Aral Balkan — We didn’t lose control – it was stolen
  A follow on post to last weeks Berners-Lee campaign to take back control of your digital life.
• Building a Hackintosh Pro
  Seeing more posts like this. Folk that love the Mac ecosystem but are frustrated by the lack of progress and power from Apple. Tempting.
• Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers: inside the Royal Navy’s £6.2 billion warships | WIRED UK
  The Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers are almost ready for launch. WIRED takes an in-depth look at these vast warships to find if they are transformational for the Royal Navy or if they are just expensive white elephants
  Carriers are so impressive up close and when you are inside it’s jaw dropping how vast they feel.
• American Says In 2007 It’s His Dream To Work At Nintendo, Winds Up In Credits For Breath Of The Wild
  Everyone has a dream. Corey Bunnell’s was to one day work for Nintendo. But he wasn’t sure how to make that happen so he asked for advice one day on a forum. That was ten years ago. This month, Nintendo shipped The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with his name in the credits under “Wildlife Programming.”
  Loved this. Follow your dreams.
• Atomic Blonde – Restricted Trailer [HD] – YouTube
  Charlize Theron goes Atomic. Watch the restricted #AtomicBlonde trailer now. http://ift.tt/2m9hLfh https://twitter.com/atomic_blonde ht…
  Looks great with an impressive cast.

Life
Nasty sort throat from Wednesday turned into nasty throat and cold over the weekend. Bah.

Media
Loving Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Enchanting game and I dip in and out far more easily due to the portability of the Switch. Need to get a post up on my thoughts on the Switch as well as there’s some great touches…and some surprising shortfalls.

Also picked up Fast RMX for the Switch, a fast playing Wipeout clone. It’s pretty impressive and much better than I expected.

Finally I also bought the New Ghost Recon:Wildlands. Shouldn’t have as I don’t have the time to fit all this in but rose tinted glasses and many a night playing multiplayer Ghost Recon saw me succumb. First impressions are it’s not bad and has some potential.

Links

• Can I forgive the man who raped me? | Books | The GuardianThordis Elva was raped aged 16. Years later, she emailed Tom Stranger, the man who raped her, beginning a raw, painful healing process documented in their book South of Forgiveness.
  Powerful read. I don’t think I could be so forgiving.
• Twitter’s timeline algorithm, and its effect on us, explained.
  Twitter has offered a glimpse into the workings of its timeline algorithm for the first time since it was launched a year ago.
  I still want to see tweets in order. Fuck the algorithm.
• Path Finder Update : No Man’s Sky
  Another impressive patch for No Mans Sky. Ground vehicles, PS4 Pro support and a stunning photo mode. Once I get Zelda out of the way I’m back in.
• Internet warriors: inside the dark world of online ‘trolls’ | Technology | The Guardian
  Why do people vent such toxic opinions online? Filmmaker Kyrre Lien spent three years travelling the world to find out who these anonymous ‘internet warriors’ are and why they do it. Introduction by Shahesta Shaitly
  Internet warriors. Ha.
• Jack Monroe wins Katie Hopkins libel tweet case – BBC News
  Food blogger Jack Monroe wins £24,000 damages in a libel action against columnist Katie Hopkins.
  In amongst all the crap you see online, this was a big fuck you to those that think they can say what they want on Twitter or on the web in general without consequence. It also helped that it was Hopkins who lost.
• Children interrupt BBC News interview – BBC News
  An interview with an expert on South Korea had some uninvited guests steal the limelight.
  Viral video of the week. So funny.
• Breaking Down the Father on BBC Being Interrupted by His Children – Medium
  I don’t know that I have ever seen a video go viral more quickly than this clip of some dude in South Korea commenting on the removal of once-President Park Geun-hye. Granted, I’m sure there are…
  Some ‘in depth analysis’ on the BBC viral video.
• Breaking Conventions with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – YouTube
  In this 2017 GDC session, Nintendo’s Hidemaro Fujibayashi, Satoru Takizawa, and Takuhiro Dohta provide an in-depth look at how some of the convention-breakin…
  Loved this video from the developers of Breath of the Wild.
• Ways and Means – The Whyte Paper
  With Indyref2 dominating talk in Scotland this post really resonated with me, and this bit in particular – The simple fact of the matter is that Holyrood is an incredibly powerful Parliament with the ability to make a real positive difference to the lives of people in Scotland. Sadly, it is not in the interests of those who value independence above all else to use these powers to their full effect. The powers they need must always be those they don’t have. It is the only way their constitutional obsession can be achieved.
• The End Of Wintel: How The Most Powerful Alliance In Tech History Is Falling Apart
  As Microsoft seeks new growth in the cloud, the Wintel alliance is now officially over.
  Most of my computing life has been dominated by the Wintel alliance in some way or another. The change in what we call a computer and what most people need from a computer is causing quite the revolution.

I invented the web. Here are three things we need to change to save it | Tim Berners-Lee | Technology | The Guardian
It has taken all of us to build the web we have, and now it is up to all of us to build the web we want – for everyone
Noble aim from Sir Tim – I just hope he succeeds.

• Why We Can’t Look Away From Our Screens – The New York Times
  In a new book, the social psychologist Adam Alter warns that our devotion to digital devices has morphed into something very much like addiction.
  I think for some our digital devices have turned into addiction. The need to post to social networks, the notifications when you haven’t engaged. I’ve killed my Facebook use and no longer need to see every Tweet and feel better for it.
• The biggest threat facing middle-age men isn’t smoking or obesity. It’s loneliness. – The Boston Globe
  As men grow older, they tend to let their friendships lapse. But there’s still time to do something about it.
  I was out walking yesterday and the word loneliness popped in my head and then I read this post thanks to Gordon. Something I need to address methinks.
• Against The Whiteboard – Fog Creek Software – Medium
  Today’s computer programmers enjoy one of the best job markets that any group of workers has ever had. There are abundant well-paying opportunities for many different kinds of working coders. But we…
  What a shit way to recruit people.
• BABY DRIVER – Official Trailer – YouTube
  This Summer, all you need is one killer track #BabyDriverMovie In Theaters August 11. Subscribe to Sony Pictures for exclusive video updates: http://bit.ly/S…
  Love Edgar Wrights movies and while the trailer looks good…is this not Drive all over again?