Six Links Worthy of Your Attention #577

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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, Interesting Bits, 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: 

  • Minimum Wage Machine – Blake Fall-Conroy“One of the many things the pandemic has upended is our understanding of hourly toil, essential work, and wage slavery. Many industries are finding it hard to hire employees now that it’s clear their labor amounts to little more than subsistence, at best. This art installation by Blake Fall-Conroy is brilliant, and grueling: Turn the handle, and the machine dispenses a penny every 4.97 seconds. That kind of monotony is what minimum wage feels like. A visceral demonstration—how long would you stand there turning? We need art to show us what’s wrong with culture.” (Alistair for Hugh).
  • Watch a police officer admit to playing Taylor Swift to keep a video off YouTube – The Verge. “Digital copyright is hard. A week ago I posted a Twitter thread about how a funny TikTok duet of a man accompanying a howling cat went viral—and resulted in a piece of published music, which then tripped TikTok’s license enforcement, making the sound on the original video vanish (because now it was a copyrighted song in it). Here’s another perverse example: A police officer intentionally playing a popular song while he’s being recorded, so that copyright enforcement tools on social media will flag it as a copyright violation and take it down. Watch this space.” (Alistair for Mitch).
  • The Most Irrational Number – Slate. “I always thought pi was the coolest irrational number, but maybe the golden ratio is?” (Hugh for Alisatir).
  • The five-day workweek is dead – Vox. “Will TGIT, Thank God It’s Thursday, be the refrain of weekend warriors of the future?” (Hugh for Mitch). 
  • Re-Revising ‘The History Of Jazz’ – NPR. “I’m a huge fan of jazz music. And, as mainstream as you may think that jazz is… or weird… or not ‘catchy’ enough… my perspective is a little different. Jazz is the original punk music. And, the deeper down the jazz rabbit hole that I travel, the more surprised and charmed I am by its history and the artists who made it happen… and who make it happen. There is a richness in this music. It’s one that is deeply woven into our society and culture. If you think it’s not for you, I’d urge you to read this article, and to try experimenting with the genre. In a world of streaming, it’s never been easier to try something a little off the beaten path. It just might change your life…” (Mitch for Alistair).
  • Is Podcasting…A Slowing Market? – I Hear Things. “I’ve been friends with Tom Webster for a very long time. We have many shared interests: Music, podcasting… sarcasm… sarcastic memes… I could keep going. His newsletter, I Hear Things, is for anyone interested in all things audio (and digital). He tackles podcasting often. In this week’s writing, he looks at some data surrounding the notion that podcasting is a slowing market. Has podcasting become ‘disrupted’? I’d love to know your thoughts…” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

Are you interested in what’s next? How to decode the future? I publish between 2-3 times per week and then the Six Pixels of Separation Podcast comes out every Sunday. Feel free to subscribe (and tell your friends):