Music
When [Spotify] removed real classical, jazz, and ambient artists from popular playlists and replaced them with low-budget stock muzak, it was steamrolling real music cultures, actual traditions within which artists were trying to make a living. From the Harper’s report Ghosts in the Machine, on how Spotify fills
Psychology
critical ignoring—choosing what to ignore and where to invest one’s limited attentional capacities Critical Ignoring as a Core Competence for Digital Citizens, published in Sage Journals, via Jason Kottke. The authors describe three types of cognitive strategies for critical ignoring, which should be taught in school: 1. Self-
Social Media
An abbreviation of the phrase: "X, formerly known as Twitter". The "X" is pronounced like "sh" as is done for Chinese words. Elon Musk's Xitter, as defined quite well on The Urban Dictionary
Cloud computing
Setting up Ghost CMS on Google App Engine, easier done than said
Blogging
Is blogging still a thing? Is anybody listening? Can you hear me? Hello?
Psychology
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. Upton Sinclair, born 1878, American novelist and social reformer.
Apple
Apple always seems to be “behind” in innovative technology when in fact it is already applying it in purpose-driven ways that are less about tech demos and more about customer delight. Matthew Panzarino reviewing iPhone 7
Google is extremely well-placed for where they think the puck is going. Marco Arment, comparing Apple to the competition on matters of AI & Big Data
I don’t think they are evil. I think they, like other tech companies, are just idealistic in a way that works best for them. Musician Zoë Keating about Google, asking What should I do about Youtube?
Life
One of the things our grandchildren will find quaintest about us is that we distinguish the digital from the real, the virtual from the real. William Gibson: The Rolling Stone interview
Innovation
Numbers are important. Number of users is important. So are lots of other things. Different services create value in different ways. Trust your gut as much (or more) than the numbers. Figure out what matters and build something good. Twitter & Medium founder Ev Williams, in his Medium post A
User experience
The hamburger menu is the new mystery meat navigation. @BasL