Articles

Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #487

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 (Rebus Foundation, PressBooks, LibriVox) 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:

The First Pictures of the Dark Side of the Moon – Twitter. “Is a Twitter thread a post? I don’t know—but this story is so gonzo engineering madness, I’m going to include it anyway. How do you take a picture of the dark side of the moon? It’s 1959, and you’re in a space race. You’re completely out of touch with earth, because the moon’s in the way. You don’t have digital cameras, let alone computer memory, in which to store things. I guarantee you’ll tell your friends this story.” (Alistair for Hugh).
Getting started with security keys – Paul Stamatiou. “This might seem dry. Consider it a public service announcement. Passwords are bad; and simply adding your phone number to your account so you can receive an SMS might lull you into a false sense of security. Every week, I talk to someone who got hacked, or who dealt with a ransomware attack. This is a long post, but if you want to truly understand online security, you should read it and do what it says—particularly if you’re a prominent public figure with a reputation to uphold.” (Alistair for Mitch).
The Lost River: Mexicans fight for mighty waterway taken by the US – The Guardian. “When will the great global water wars begin, I wonder?” (Hugh for Alistair).
Ode to skimming – TLS. “Leah Price on (and others) call bullshit on the notion that book-reading has ever been that bastion of concentration that anti-digitalists claim it was.” (Hugh for Mitch).
30 Unnecessary Packaging Fails That Got Shamed Online – Bored Panda. “We can talk all we want about being better citizens to this world and the environment. We can talk all we want about automation and efficiency. We can both love and hate Amazon for everything that it brings into our world. What we can’t do, is deny that we have a waste problem. This will make you laugh, cry and be jaw dropped. The sheer madness and how infuriating this is… ugh. It’s happened to me. I’m sure it’s happened to you. Maybe shaming these brands will change things?” (Mitch for Alistair).
12 delightful, insightful quotes about reading, writing and storytelling, from TED Talks – TED. “Reading, writing, storytelling, TED and inspiration. If the headline alone doesn’t make you spend a handful of minutes with this article, these topics are probably not interesting to you. They are to me (and I know that they are to Hugh)… and this piece is filled with mind bombs that will give you pause. If they do… take fifteen minutes from your day and commit to reading… a book… made of paper… and take notes. It will change your life forever (in a positive way). Promise.” (Mitch for Hugh).

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.