Categories: Articles

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #161

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 (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), 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:

Netflix’s “Streamageddon”: Why Do Streaming Video Services Still Suck? – Flavorwire. "Netflix delivers movies in two ways. First, or by DVD; and second, by streaming. But the differences don’t stop there–one is a long-tail play that delights film buffs, while the other is a numbers game and a mathematical popularity contest. As this Flavorwire piece explains, balancing commercial commitments with diversity isn’t easy. There’s a good lesson here for anyone in publishing." (Alistair for Hugh).
This DJ Shadow mix was “too future” for Miami – Consequence Of Sound. "DJ Shadow is a giant of progressive mixing and mashups. He’s always pushing the envelope, and sometimes, that rips through the edges of crowd-pleasing mass-market tastes. So when he was prematurely ushered from the decks by promoters who found his set too futuristic, he put it online. Pundits are divided: is the mark of a great DJ someone who knows how to please a crowd, or someone who can school them in what’s new? You decide." (Alistair for Mitch).
Settled – xkcd. "I’ve heard Alistair say, on a couple of occasions: ‘Who knew that the killer app for cameras was an internet connection?’ Along those lines, Randall Munroe, the mind behind the comic xkcd makes an observation about cameras, phones, and UFOs." (Hugh for Alistair).
Woman’s work – Columbia Journalism Review. "An important essay about journalism, and Syria. A heartfelt essay, with a most astounding (and depressing) factoid: risking your life to bring the reality of Syria to western news outlets will net you: $70 a story." (Hugh for Mitch).
9 Facts About Quantum Computing That Will Melt Your Mind – Business Insider. "You had me at: ‘quantum particles can exist in two places at once, move forwards or backwards in time, and even teleport by way of what physicists call quantum tunneling. This is the stuff of science fiction to us, but in the quantum world it’s business as usual. And scientists can’t really explain it.’ So, um, yeah… chaos and technology is coming to computers. Buckle up!" (Mitch for Alistair).
Authors Guild Warns Of ‘Dark Underbelly Of Mass Digitization’ – The Daily Online Examiner. "You know, if we can just stop the digitization of books and force everyone to buy a physical, paper copy, the whole industry would bounce right back and that would be much better for authors. These people are delusional. It scares me, because I saw the music industry ignore digitization. There is an 800 pound gorilla in this conversation that these traditional, antiquated groups and organization always fail to acknowledge: they would not be crying had they cannibalized and disrupted the industry themselves. Their frustration comes from someone else (Amazon, iBooks, Kobo or whomever) who has developed a new technology and market and commanding money. I hate it when art and the protection of artists is actually shrouded in greed, money and control. We have to ask the really tough questions: what’s best for the author… and the reader." (Mitch for Hugh).

Now it’s your turn: in the comment section below pick one thing that you saw this week that inspired you and share it.

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.