Year: 2018

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.

Life
Tomorrow is the bluest most depressing day of the year. Bullshit. Just another day folks.

Media
If you’ve got an Xbox, get on PUBG (Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds). It’s got flaws but they are constantly patching and fixing and I love it.

Links

• No tracking, no revenue: Apple’s privacy feature costs ad companies millions | Technology | The GuardianI generally run with adblockers as the tracking is just too invasive, but I get that for many sites the drop in revenue is a serious issue.
• How the industry-breaking Spectre bug stayed secret for seven months – The Verge
  With Meltdown and Spectre, multi-party coordination broke down and the secret spilled out before anyone was ready. That early breakdown had consequences. After the release, basic questions of fact became muddled, like whether AMD chips are vulnerable to Spectre attacks (they are), or whether Meltdown is specific to Intel.
  Good background to the mega bugs that were unveiled last week but found last year.
• Button it. | Present&CorrectCold room control rooms. Would love to photo these one day.
• Inside Uber’s $100,000 Payment to a Hacker, and the Fallout – The New York TimesUber really are shady as f%ck.
• Mr. Amazon Steps Out – The New York TimesRichest person in the world…and Amazon could pretty much take on any company they like at the moment.
• Referendum II is coming. Farage just can’t bear being a Brexit misfit | Marina Hyde | Opinion | The GuardianFarage skewered again.
• Here’s The Audio Recording Of John Humphrys And Jon Sopel’s “Jokey Exchange” About Equal PayListen rather than read – add’s so much more colour and also shows it wasn’t that jokey. Bastards.
• Everyone Is Getting Hilariously Rich and You’re Not – The New York TimesBuy buy buy!!!
• The Good War – by Mike Dawson and Chris HayesAmazing comic.
• Oprah Winfrey Receives Cecil B. de Mille Award at the 2018 Golden Globes – YouTubeIf you read or watch one thing this week, make it this.
• Turning Design Mockups Into Code With Deep Learning – FloydHub BlogClever clever code that highlights what automation and AI could do to the job market.
• I found my suicide note – Matt Gemmell – MediumPowerful writing which is well worth your attention.
• CES 2018: Inside the Lab Where Amazon’s Alexa Takes Over The World | WIREDAnother behind the scenes look at a big tech companies lab. Love these.
• 52 Places to Go in 2018 – The New York TimesGlasgow is there and with a mention for Ramen Dayo!
• Facebook Knows How to Track You Using the Dust on Your Camera LensThis is ridiculous and creepy.
• These Trump supporters built a gallows and tried to arrest London’s mayor. People laughed at them. – The Washington PostI laughed at the video’s at first, but these folk are delusional…and dangerous.

Life
It’s 2018, same shit different year. No resolutions as such but I have a few things planned for the year that will hopefully play out.

Media
Enjoying Gran Turismo on the PS4 more than I expected. PUBG is addivtive though, so close to first win today.

Links

• Rocket in the Sky plus Accident. – YouTubeGreat dashcam video.
• The Worst Job in Technology: Staring at Human Depravity to Keep It Off Facebook – WSJHidden cost of policing the internet. Don’t think I could do it.
• Confessions of a Digital Nazi Hunter – The New York TimesAnother type of internet police.
• From inboxing to thought showers: how business bullshit took over | News | The GuardianBingo!
• A Message to Our Customers – Apple
  An important message to our customers regarding iPhone battery and performance.
  Rare mis-step from Apple on messaging. All these years people said they slowed their phone down and most said don’t be daft. Who’s daft now?
• Liverpool’s Rhian Brewster: ‘When I’m racially abused, I just want to be left alone’ | Football | The GuardianStill going on in 2018. Shameful.
• Donald Trump’s New York Times interview is scary to read – VoxRambling, incoherent…what a mess.
• Daring Fireball: The iPhone XMonths after it came out Gruber still finds lots to say on the iPhone X.
• Tech That Will Change Your Life in 2018 – WSJ
  In 2017, technology spread its tentacles into our lives in ways we couldn’t have imagined. In 2018, expect the invasion to get even weirder—and more aggressive.
  Could be a vintage year ahead.
• Kansas Man Killed In ‘SWATting’ Attack — Krebs on SecurityHorrendous.
• Powerful Hollywood Women Unveil Anti-Harassment Action Plan – The New York TimesGreat idea…and UK version coming soon too.
• The Problem with Muzak | Liz Pelly
  We should call this what it is: the automation of selling out.
  Hearing this as well. Not good.
• What Fitbit discovered from 6 billion nights of sleep dataReally impressed with the sleep tracking on my latest Fitbit.
• Sarah Silverman responds to troll by befriending him and paying for his medical treatment | The IndependentUplifting…there is another way.
• Smells Like Teen Spirit in a major key is an upbeat pop-punk songThis messes with your head. Didn’t expect it to sound so bright.
• Kernel-memory-leaking Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign • The RegisterWell done to The Register for breaking this.
• The 99 best things that happened in 2017 — QuartzIt wasn’t all bad you know.