Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #492

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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: 

  • Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished – BBC. “Build a better mousetrap, and the world won’t beat a path to your door—at least, not in the attention age. But get on a few stages, and you can sell it anything. So goes the story of OneCoin. Crypto and Multi-Level Marketing deserve one another (don’t @ me.) And when they get together with shady interests and money launderers, well. Since I know you like podcasts, Hugh, here’s one. And an article summarizing it.” (Alistair for Hugh).
  • BatLabels on Twitter – Twitter. “I know, sharing tweets isn’t that interesting. But you’ll like this one. The account shares correspondences between the studio and the producers of the campy, Adam West Batman. Worth reading, if you’ve ever had to work with editors who didn’t really understand things. Also, it’s abundantly clear that it was unadulterated goofiness, and the writers knew it.” (Alistair for Mitch).
  • Whales Are “Nature’s Solution To Climate Change.” – Futurism. “A feel-good story: a single whale traps 33 tons of carbon during its lifetime, equal to 1,000 trees, and so protecting and increasing whale populations should be at the top of our environmental agenda (for new reasons). Sounds great, the only problem is that, for instance, the annual per capita CO2 emissions in the USA and Canada are around 15 tonnes. So, let’s say the average Canadian lives 75 years, the total emissions per person equals 1125 tonnes, and there are 37M Canadians, so the current Canadian population will be responsible for ~46 billion tonnes of CO2 over our lifetimes, requiring … 1.2 billion whales to offset our emissions. Not sure the math adds up here.” (Hugh for Alistair).
  • This Is The Scientific Way To Win Any Argument (And Not Make Enemies) – Fast Company. “Reframing your position to appeal to the oppositions underlying beliefs (not your own beliefs) is the key.” (Hugh for Mitch).
  • The retail stores killed by the internet that people miss the most, according to Reddit users – Business Insider. “When it comes to retail, I can easily talk out of both sides of my mouth. On one side, I love Amazon, ecommerce, and all things digital. Deeply. When I’m looking for something more obscure, or I don’t want to think, I just can’t get enough of Amazon or brands that do online shopping well. On the other side, I’m a total mallrat. I love going to shopping malls, busy retail districts in major metropolitan cities, scouring stores for inspiration, bargains and… more often than not… just to wander around. You like checking out a local museum? I like checking out the local mall. Sue me. This list took me back, made me smile, and brought warmth to my heart. I do miss arcades… and many of the brands listed here.” (Mitch for Alistair).
  • Her Amazon Purchases Are Real. The Reviews Are Fake – BuzzFeed. “Get free items if you review them on Amazon. Not exactly legal, but how brands are trying to game the system or make the system work for them. This is a fascinating read and not a new story. If you’re a brand and you want to sell your wares online, Amazon is one of the places to make it happen (at scale). Getting great reviews is what pushes products to the top of the listings. As like most things “fake news”, Amazon (like all of the other online players) are struggling to figure out intent, reality and truth. It’s the ugly side of the Internet, economics and publishing. It’s easy to be mad at this, but what’s the solution?” (Mitch for Hugh).

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