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: 

• AI has poisoned its own well – Tracy Durnell. “When an AI consumes data it hallucinates, it gets dumb, fast. AI has a malnutrition problem, which is a major challenge for the growth of generative AI. There aren’t good solutions (sidenote: I’m actually working on a proposal for one; more details soon, hopefully.) But it’s an issue Tracy Durnell explains perfectly in this blog post.” (Alistair for Hugh).
• Everything Sucks Now – Wisecrack – YouTube. “I just deleted Facebook from my phone again; I’d been lured back by the need to use its Events feature for a while, but as usual, partisan dogmatists don’t like it when a pragmatic centrist says the quiet part out loud. ‘Is The Age of Online Friendship Over?’ is a legitimate question. Twitter, which was my home turf, has gone largely quiet (if you don’t count the crypto-turned-AI experts who are promising a single prompt to change your life). Cory Doctorow calls this Enshitification, which he digs into here.” (Alistair for Mitch and video below).
• The simple ways cities can adapt to heatwaves – Future Planet – BBC. “Turns out green spaces are pretty important for cities trying to deal with major heat waves. Ditto rivers. Not a surprise. Also I’ve seen a few articles recently on the impact of painting concrete surfaces white (guess those Greek Islands are on to something).” (Hugh for Alistair).
• Rooftop Gardens Can Help Alleviate Heat in Cities, Study Finds – EcoWatch. “While we’re at it, let’s make lots of rooftop gardens to help reduce urban heat sinks. (Ping me if you are interested in my experience with rooftop gardening!).” (Hugh for Mitch).
• How To Do Great Work – Paul Graham. “I save a lot of articles and, in many instances, it’s not me coming across the link but rather being referred to it by someone else. Mea culpa to when I don’t remember which person shared a link (or on what platform) to properly accredit them. I am sorry. This week, I do remember the sources for my choices. First up, is this great essay from famed tech guru, Paul Graham, about how to do great work that Tobi Lutke from Shopify tweeted out. I could pull a quote from almost any paragraph in this essay… it’s a beauty. Do you have to work hard? Yes. Do you have dig down deep? Yes. Do you have to be willing to be wrong and correct course? Yes. There’s a lot in here (along with a great exercise to find your own path), and I’m not convinced many people are willing to put in the work to find our their own personal path. Don’t believe me? Most people won’t even make it through this whole essay, let alone do the work that Graham suggests… sadly.” (Mitch for Alistair).
• UES Barnes & Noble Opens To ‘Unprecedented’ Neighborhood Welcome – Patch – Upper East Side. “The transitions in the book publishing and book retail business are fascinating to watch. First, it was big-book sellers like Barnes & Noble that were destroying the industry, then Amazon came along… then it was both Amazon and these big-box retailers that were the problem… then, suddenly, when Barnes & Noble was faltering everyone got worried that book stores might disappear completely… suddenly we’re rooting for any book store that opens anywhere… and, actually, I celebrate that as well. Massive crowds show up in New York City to celebrate the opening of a Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side. Books make us better. This one made me smile (and, yes, my explanation was a massive over-simplification of the many issues that the industry has gone through!). Thanks, Laura Gassner Otting, for the share!” (Mitch for Hugh).   

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

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