Categories: Articles

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #260

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 improbable rise and fall of Couchsurfing – The Kernel. “Some communities are mirages — when you try to monetize them, they vanish into the desert. Couchsurfing thrived on intimacy between like-minded, well-meaning people. And then everyone else found out. An object lesson in the tragedy of the commons.” (Alistair for Hugh).
College Has Gotten 12 Times More Expensive in One Generation – Mother Jones. “The GI Bill and the New Deal boosted America’s fortunes. Now we see the reverse — the widening gulf between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’ I can’t wait until the machines write better psychology papers than the teachers can grade.” (Alistair for Mitch).
What Is Code? – BusinessWeek. “This seems to be the article (or rather, short book – its 38,000 words) everyone is reading this week. If you are a coder, then this is a brilliant example of how to explain your craft to the rest of the world. If you are not a coder, then this will explain to you how most of the (human) world actually works. Also, Paul Ford is one of the most delightful writers around.” (Hugh for Alistair).
How Things Break – Slate. “I’ve been on a bit of a Muhammed Ali kick lately. The Rumble in the Jungle really is an amazing sporting spectacle (and is available on YouTube in its entirety). But, before the great Ali-Foreman fight, there was Ali-Liston – much less interesting as a boxing match, but resulting in this iconic photo. Here’s the backstory.” (Hugh for Mitch).
Man Asks for Photoshop Help, Internet Hilariously Responds – Pleated Jeans. “Need laugh? The Internet never lets you down. Promise.” (Mitch for Alistair).
Four Columbia House insiders explain the shady math behind “8 CDs for a penny” – AV Club. “I was a ‘member.’ I probably still owe them money. I’m now wondering if my lack of fulfillment has somehow affected my credit rating. I don’t know. I did the classic Columbia House play for vinyl, cassettes and yes, even, CDs. Seems so antiquated now. Was it a smart business model? This is a great read for anyone who loved music in the 80s and 90s…” (Mitch for Hugh).

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

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.