Categories: Articles

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #190

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:

Should A Robot Decide When To Kill? – The Verge. "I grew up reading Asimov‘s Laws of Robotics. Turns out that wasn’t escapism — it was just preparation. This rather chilling Verge piece on DARPA‘s autonomous soldiers paint a robotized future as inevitable. ‘Either we’re going to decide not to do this, and have an international agreement not to do it, or it’s going to happen.’ Rather than ‘A robot must not harm a human’ we get the more loophole-ready, ‘A robot must always follow a human operator’s intent, for example, while simultaneously guarding against any failure that could cause an operator to lose control.’ Yikes." (Alistair for Hugh).
Here’s the leaked Uber email to drivers, showing it’s finally taking background checks seriously – Pando Daily. "One of the biggest economic shifts this century comes from the removal of the friction that justifies middlemen. From travel agencies to parking meters, everything’s going digital. AirBnB, Uber, Lyft, even white-label airlines are getting in on the action. The honeymoon, however, may be over. Nearly every one of them is under scrutiny for predatory pricing, liability claims, and mis-set expectations. P2P rideshare startup Lyft recently announced insurance, but the real story is Uber, which sent a letter to drivers about background checks. Up next? I’m betting it’s unionization. What’s good for the management goose is good for the employee gander." (Alistair for Mitch).
Our quantum problem – Aeon Magazine. "The head-scratching problems with Quantum Theory." (Hugh for Alistair).
Spotify: how a busy songwriter you’ve never heard of makes it work for him – The Guardian. "Want to hear a song about mayonnaise? Or, Brisbane? Or, door-handles? Matt Farley churns them out at an amazing pace, and puts them all on Spotify. I originally heard about Matt Farley on the podcast TLDR." (Hugh for Mitch).
What Brands in Sochi Are Doing for Security May Surprise You – AdWeek. "Part of the advertising business is schmoozing clients. That’s a lie. It’s a big part of every business. So, when the Olympics roll around, brands see an amazing opportunity to really work their networks and lock in some solid business opportunities while taking in the event, wining, dining and who knows what else? The problem is that some places aren’t that safe. There has been lots of concern over the safety at the winter Olympics. It’s not something you read about often, but this is what brands are doing to ensure that their guests have a blast… in a different kind of way." (Mitch for Alistair).
Please Click On Our Website’s Banner Ads – The Onion. "This is one of those pieces that is so funny because of how true and sad it is. It’s from The Onion, so you know it’s satire of the highest form. It’s also true for just about any traditional publisher pimping for clicks, while trying to amp up their banner advertising inventory. Special thanks to Michael Lautman for shooting it my way on Twitter." (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.