Categories: Articles

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #191

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:

The Little Girl from the 1981 LEGO Ad is All Grown Up, and She’s Got Something to Say – Women You Should Know. "This article revisits Lego‘s iconic ad showing a pigtailed redhead playing with Lego. It provoked all kinds of reactions online — from those lauding it for pointing out gender bias, to those wondering why liking ‘girly things’ is somehow less worthy. Wherever you stand on the issue, it’s interesting to see how Lego has changed over the last few decades." (Alistair for Hugh).
Dinner Party – Oliver Walker. "I’m a big fan of changing formats to shift how people interact. It’s something I try to do at Bitnorth. But I’ve never taken it this far. Here’s a social-experiment-slash-art-piece that investigates just how much of our interactions are nonverbal. I really want to try this sometime." (Alistair for Mitch).
Hi, I’m Jack – jack.minardi.org. "Take a healthy dollop of BitTorrent, add a dash of BitCoin, shake until you get a decentralized browser with decentralized domain ownership: SyncNet. Early, experimental days. Fascinating direction for the ‘Web’, as the original idea of a independent, decentralized Internet is slowly getting gobbled up by a small number of mega-centralized behemoths (Facebook/Google/Amazon/Verizon etc)." (Hugh for Alistair).
Conrad Black: This anemic recovery – National Post. "Conrad Black is the most famous ex-convict former newspaper baron Canada has produced to date. Since his release from US prison (for various fraudulent uses of company money), Baron Black of Crossharbour (long story) has been penning long-winded and delightfully grouchy essays for Canada’s National Post newspaper (the right-leaning paper he founded back when he was a newspaper baron). Black is one hell of a personality, whatever you think of him, and a renaissance man to boot. His articles are pompous and wide-ranging, and pretty great reads. Here’s one about the 2008 economic collapse and Canada and a few other things." (Hugh for Mitch).
This Dad Coloured-In His Kid’s Art To Kill Time On Business Trips – We Interviewed Him – Lost At E Minor. "If you ever have those moments when you think that you’re not that great of a father, don’t worry because there’s always the Internet to confirm it for you. You may think that you’re an awesome dad, but you’re not this awesome. Of course, I’m kidding. I’m sure everyone is a great parent (including you, Alistair), but this hyper-creative dad takes it to a whole new level in what can only be described as the most heart-warming story that I have read all week. Truly beautiful and powerful." (Mitch for Alistair).
Wikipedia vs. the Small Screen – The New York Times. "Sometimes you read something on the Internet that gives you pause. Most people (myself included) take Wikipedia for granted. After all, I don’t contribute, edit or even correct anything on the platform. Yet, I use it constantly (and I love it). Sure, I am more than happy to support them on their annual giving campaign, but I take more than I give when it comes to Wikipedia. Well, what happens in a mobile world where creating and editing content is not as easy as it is in a Web-browser-based world? I had not thought about this, but Wikipedia is going to be in lot of trouble if they can’t figure out how to encourage people to contribute to Wikipedia in a world where most people are simply using their smartphones for content." (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.