Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?
My friends: Alistair Croll (Solve for Interesting, Tilt the Windmill, HBS, chair of Strata, Startupfest, FWD50, and Scaletechconf; author of Lean Analytics and some other books), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist’s Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person “must see.”
Check out these six links that we’re recommending to one another:
- Why Victorians feared modern technology would make everyone blind – The Conversation. “I’ve been thinking a lot this week about the pros and cons of technology. It’s weakening and polarizing us; it’s giving us superpowers and access to the sum of human knowledge with a fingertip. But this kind of worrying has been going on for a long time: The Victorians thought urban living caused a decline in eyesight that would leave future generations partly blind.” (Alistair for Hugh).
- Fortnite Is so Much More Than a Game – Great Escape – Medium. “Fortnite is a gaming phenomenon. If you’ve seen the movie Battle Royale, or more recently read The Hunger Games series, you have the basic idea: Kill everyone else with household items in a shrinking space. That’s an oversimplification—but it’s hard to overstate the widespread impact of Fortnite. I’ve railed against it to friends whose kids inhabit the world. But this article made me reconsider: Perhaps it’s our first digital Third Space. So: PVP horror, or freedom for the Backseat Generation?” (Alistair for Mitch).
- At The Very Least We Know The End of The World Will Have A Bright Side – Longreads. “I think I need to start reading some ‘solarpunk,’ post-apocalyptic sci-fi with a bright side. Need me some of that.” (Hugh for Alistair).
- Historic Virgin Galactic Flight Reminds Us That ‘Space’ Is Just a Concept, Man – Gizmodo. “I’m not much of a space nut, but watching the video from Virgin about their first successful test flight of Virgin Galactic (you can get a ticket for $250,000), is pretty cool.” (Hugh for Mitch).
- All automated hiring software is prone to bias by default – Technology Review. “More problems in tech land. The algorithms will help automate and take away the grunt work from us protein-based forms. Artificial intelligence and machine learning will just get smarter and better. ‘Better’ is the keyword here… and the problem. What if the algorithms that us humans develop are flawed? Hint: They already are. Well, if we let the algorithms go… and then apply machine learning and artificial intelligence on top of that, what happens? Problems. Big, hard problems that may not be solvable. We look to government now, don’t we? We want them to bust up the big tech companies or set regulations. This is important work. But… maybe… we need to get ahead of the algorithms, their bias… and a very unproductive future. Who watches the algorithms “ (Mitch for Alistair).
- 10 Gorgeous Retro Board Games Based on Sci-Fi Classics – Popular Mechanics. “I’m a sucker for pop culture, graphic design, science fiction and typography. Go ahead, judge me. I never put all of the pieces of this puzzle together, to realize just how cool some of the board games that I grew up with (and played for hours on end) were. Going through this article was both a trip down memory lane, and an eyes-wide-open experience to appreciating the design and thinking that went into some of these games… and how much we often take design for granted. Some of these games may have sucked (from a game play perspective), but it’s hard to argue that the design and the thinking that went into them wasn’t anything short of pop culture fantastic art. Board games of the past are now pieces of art. Who knew?” (Mitch for Hugh).
Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.